Feet First
by OpalineFishsticks
Summary: Falling into a well and shattering an ancient jewel of infinite power isn't Shino's idea of a perfect birthday surprise for Kagome, but she takes it in stride. It's keeping the secret from her family and meddlesome parties that complicates things—and that's to say nothing of her sudden super strength, or the one-and-a-half-armed demon lord she finds herself inexplicably drawn to…
1. Happy birthday?

**Feet First**

**Chapter 1: Happy birthday?**

The fragments of her consciousness crashed and toppled over each other, scrambling into form as a screech yanked her out of sleep.

Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi would prepare the birthday cake in class while she stalled Kagome back at the Higurashi Shrine.

"Right," said Shino, thoughts crystal clear. It took only her entire childhood, but even when stirring she was already on the go. Throwing off the blanket with a kick and swinging her legs over the bed, she turned off the alarm clock and rose to her feet – to fall sideward. She caught herself, blindly swaying every which way until she found a wall kind enough to catch her in the face.

Unfortunately, her body always lagged in comparison with her mind.

Allowing the black spots in her vision to clear, Shino squared her shoulders and marched into the bathroom. Poise. That was important. But she was alone, and she could slouch and walk as mannishly as she wished. Only she didn't, so Shino approached the mirror with as meaningful a stride as her body could afford. It reflected a head of disheveled hair that sank just inches below the chin, and dark brown eyes that could swallow a man whole, deep abyss that they were.

Or so Shino liked to think on her delusional days. Today the thought was scoff-worthy, unlike the one that said _come back to bed_. The truth was that most of the time her eyes were nothing worth noting, except in the sunlight when one could actually see their color. Oftentimes she rued the day she was formed in her mother's womb and didn't inherit those bluish gray eyes, but that was when she was feeling especially dramatic.

Apparently, it was possible to stall _oneself_. If only she hadn't promised to wake up earlier than usual to fulfill their scheme! But Ayumi had spent the entire morning pestering Kagome for her favorite cake flavors while the others nonchalantly took down hints from her reactions. They had toiled over this, and it wouldn't come to waste.

Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, and Kagome comprised Shino's group of friends in junior high school, but she had known Kagome Higurashi since their elementary years. Her grandfather, known as Grandpa Higurashi to her friends, was fairly good friends with Shino's own mother, a firm believer in Shinto.

Today being Kagome's 15th birthday, they all thought it only right to prepare a surprise. After all, Eri had enunciated, fist pumped in the air for good measure, a girl doesn't turn a decade and a half every year!

That was the reason why Shino slipped into her school uniform – a long-sleeved blouse and a green skirt too short for her brother's liking – half an hour earlier than usual, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and closing her door as quietly as possible, then locked it. The key hung low from her neck, beneath her uniform.

"Shino."

She was going over the mandatory topics Yuka had thought natural enough distractions when the door to her sister's chambers opened. When hiding behind the wide pillar keeping their home's structure didn't help, Shino strolled by as though she hadn't been trying to sneak out.

"Oh, good morning, Tomoyo!" Shino flashed her most joyous smile. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I was about to ask for breakfast," replied her sister, lifting an eyebrow. "Something is off."

Tomoyo was Shino's older sister by ten years. As the eldest, she was the naturally graceful one, prim and proper, almost cold. Often cold, in truth, and had been that way since high school, like she had found the sacred place where the flame of emotions were kept and doused, destroyed, stomped all over it. It confused Shino that Tomoyo never said a thing whenever catching her escape attempts – and she was _always_ the one who caught her – but she chalked it up to her sister's naturally taciturn demeanor. All the better for Tomoyo, perhaps, that Shino disliked being cooped up at home and received most reprimands.

Then again, that wasn't Tomoyo's fault. Even Tomohito, the brother between them by five years, was beloved by all, and like their eldest was well-versed in most subjects, though they were long past her year level. He was the perfect son, just as nobody could ask for a better daughter than Tomoyo. Not that Shino disappointed! She was quite proficient in things she was asked to take up for appearances' sake. Pressure ensured that. It was just that she enjoyed playing dress-up doll the least out of their trio, no matter if she understood the necessity.

"I thought I'd go to school earlier," Shino shrugged. "Finish some homework."

"Spend time with your friends," Tomoyo corrected.

"Exactly," said Shino. And that wasn't a lie, was it? She turned in the direction of the stairway near the gardens. That was clear of the help in the morning. "Have a good breakfast! I'll see you—"

"The chauffeur should be waiting to escort you at the front door…" Tomoyo tested.

"I thought I might take a quick stroll through the gardens before going to the car. Pollution and all that."

"Oh, so you are taking the car," said Tomoyo, staring at her unflinchingly as she tapped her lip. "Was that why I saw your bicycle near the arts hall gate last night?"

Shino sighed inwardly. They both knew she kept it hidden near the private gate. If there was anything she could hold over her siblings, Tomohito had said to her, it was that she could bluff her way through a losing deck. If only it worked on them, who privately called her 'the girl who cried I'm not sneaking out.' Tomoyo never let her have her way when it came to arguments like this. Well, Shino knew how to fix this. Tomoyo left her no choice.

"Please, please, please don't tell," she begged, latching onto her sister's arm. "Tomoyo!"

"All right, all right," Tomoyo dislodged Shino from herself. "But I won't take the heat for any trouble you get into."

Shino dusted herself off and regained her dignified posture. "Do I ever get into any trouble?" Rhetorical, of course. If anyone could cause an uproar by hanging out with her friends at WacDnalds after school, she could. Though nowadays it was less of a security nightmare than something they had come to expect despite the reprimands she received.

"I don't want to know," huffed Tomoyo, and sauntered down the opposite hallway.

"Thank you!" Shino whispered loudly, waving as she tiptoed off, though some of the hallways she skirted through were so old (full of culture, said father) that the floorboards creaked. Still, nobody noticed as she climbed her bicycle at the private gate, thanks to the few men who were carrying food and supplies inside between large trucks that hid her comparably tiny frame from sight of any man or machine. If they did, she surmised it was when she was long gone, laughing in the wind.

Southeast of the city, the Higurashi shrine was fairly large property, on which their houses, shrines, and a Sacred Tree stood—and with enough space for a crowd. According to Grandpa Higurashi, it was bequeathed from a line of priests and priestesses ever since the Feudal period. Shino was more impressed by the number of mantras he had stored in his head.

"Good morning," Shino called out, climbing the steps and through the Shinto gate. The concrete tiles were dustless, no doubt Mrs. Higurashi's excellent cleaning skills, which she had passed onto Souta. Kagome wasn't nearly as tidy, nor did she have the patience to be. Speaking of which, where were they? The place was almost eerily quiet. Mrs. Higurashi must have fallen asleep right after cooking breakfast and Grandpa Higurashi was likely too focused on making offerings to hear.

"Kagome? Souta?"

A familiar scream came from one of the smaller shrines. Entering that one was forbidden, Shino recalled. Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise that Souta had gone there, being a curious young boy and all. But he was a fraidy-cat – Kagome's words – and always 'yelped' (he insisted it wasn't a scream) during sleepovers when Eri told horror stories he insisted on eavesdropping on, so it was. The door was open and it was easy to spot Kagome's younger brother on his posterior, shaking like a leaf. He was pointing down the stairs, deeper into the shrine, and gripped at her with his free arm when she approached. Buyo _meow_ed at her with aloof familiarity, as cats were wont.

"What's wrong?" asked Shino, prying his fingers from her crumpled blouse. Descending the steps to a square well whose wooden latch had broken off completely, she peered inside it. The sight made her uneasy even as she saw nothing. It felt darker than she thought it might be.

"D-Don't go there!" Souta yelled. Shino nearly jumped out of her skin. "K-Kagome was taken inside!" The boy looked like he was about to cry.

"…There's no one here, Souta," Shino reasoned. "Don't you think Kagome could have played a trick on you? Maybe she's already at school and you're going to be late. So am I, in fact, if that's the case." Not to mention Eri would kill her if Kagome got there too early.

"No!" Souta insisted. "I swear, I saw her—"

"I'll show you," Shino sighed. Really, he could be as stubborn as Kagome. But he was her friend's brother, and she couldn't leave him without allaying his fears.

"Shino!" Souta cried when she lifted her legs into the well, sitting on the edge and using it to steady herself over it. He wanted to move, badly, but he was frozen to his spot by what he had seen only minutes before. "Please don't…"

"Calm down, Souta. See? Nothing to be afraid o—!"

Her hand slipped as she eased forward to adjust her position. Shino knew she was _falling_ inside. But the sensation was nothing like that – it was odd, like she was swimming but she could breathe, except an invisible, heavy weight was sinking into her chest and her eyes were slightly blurry, slightly painful, and that throbbing in her temple... There was a split second when it disappeared. She was lying down, but sprawled, but standing, but sitting all at once, and it was neither cold nor hot, only the absence of all sensation, like nothingness – was it death? – until she was on the ground. Completely unscathed.

"Souta?" Shino blinked. It was bright up there. Not like how the shrine was when she had fallen seconds ago. And seconds ago felt like a year. "Souta? Is that a flashlight? Answer if you can hear me!"

The brightness didn't move, so it couldn't have been a flashlight. And no sound reached her, there beneath the well. Souta must have gone for help. Shino put her right hand on the ground and moved to heave herself up. When her left moved to do the same, it pressed on something soft. The light above revealed it as a forearm, hand and fingers, cold and white, severed from anything that might identify its owner.

"What in the world?" she nearly screamed, but released it only as a bewildered whisper. Was this why that well had been boarded-up? What was the Higurashi family hiding here? Then again, this well had never been unlocked in all the days they'd come over to Kagome's. Disgusted, Shino distanced herself from the amputated limb as much as she could and backed into vines.

When had vines begun to grow on the well, when the thing was closed all this time?

Well, Shino wouldn't complain—she used the vines to heave herself out of the hole. There was no more shrine covering the well, and no property upon a high hill that denoted civilization. In fact, as far as her eyes could see, there was only a forest. Instead of panicking, Shino breathed. It was what her brother and sister would do. This couldn't be possible, unless the well had been a way into some underground tunnel, and that odd sensation was actually her stumbling through the secret passageway while she was unconscious.

But she couldn't recall walking or even falling, really. And her body was free of bruises, so she couldn't have fallen. Had she gotten a concussion, and was this all in her mind? Or was this where Kagome had really gone? If so, Souta might have been right. What a trick!

Shino planted her feet on the grass. Early morning dew. The scent invaded her senses, and the breeziness of the area, as compared to the city, made it out to be real. How far had she 'walked' to reach such a place? A single step, thought Shino. That was the start of a journey.

Or was this a kidnapping? Shino's breath hitched. What if kidnappers had been digging a tunnel from beneath the well all to plan a kidnapping, and had somehow taken Kagome? What if Souta was right and his inability to express himself properly had hidden this from her? Shino held her pack close and kept to the shade of the trees. If the kidnappers were here, then she couldn't call for Kagome. That would only invite more trouble.

Light footsteps on the forest ground. Any sign of civilization was welcome at this point – even the kidnappers'. If they had no idea she was there, then she still possessed the element of surprise. Picking up a gnarled stick from the ground, Shino nodded in affirmation to herself. The self-defense and weapons classes her parents had enrolled their three children into would not go to waste. Although she was terrible at aiming guns, unlike her siblings, she'd proven adept at using blunt objects.

The tranquility was breathtaking, only the chittering of small animals reaching her ears. Wouldn't they be silent if there were dangerous men around? Her grip tightened on the stick as she came upon a tree larger than all those in the forest, roots as high as her neck, curling into a silver-haired young man in a red haori with…Kagome, standing on the roots!

"Kagome!" she had reacted with joy when, to her right, she saw men dressed in farm garb wielding bows and drawing arrows, yelling at her friend. She understood them, but their words were incoherent in the face of their weapons. Shino bounded forward between them, spreading her arms wide. "Stop!" she demanded, looking at each of them, though their eyes were only for the two near the great tree. "I…I order you!"

Still she was too late, and the arrows were fired. Shino ducked and clutched her head as Kagome's scream filled her ears.

* * *

Oddly enough, the men had no apparent evil intentions for them. Threatening Shino and Kagome with another volley of arrows lest the two take another step closer to the silver-haired boy on the tree, they had actually seemed fearful of the two—as though they had never seen schoolgirls traipsing around the forest in confusion.

"I didn't think we'd gone so far from the city," Shino said to Kagome. They hadn't really managed a moment for themselves after being dragged down a hill and into a village, skirted by a small stream and rich with paddy fields. It was rural, houses built from the natural elements instead of bricks or cement or steel. This, on the outskirts of Tokyo? Impossible.

"How did you even get here?" asked Kagome, eyes searching the forest for anything familiar. Her mind drew a blank.

"Souta was outside the well, shouting that you were taken inside. I climbed in to tell him you weren't there—but here you are. How did you?"

"Uh—same," was Kagome's unsure reply. "So you just jumped in?"

"Slipped in is a more accurate term, I guess. Who are these people? Kidnappers dressed as period actors…?"

"No way they're actors," Kagome muttered. "Those arrows were embedded into that tree—we would've died if they meant to kill us! They seemed really scared of the boy with the dog ears, too."

"Shh," one of the men prodded her shoulder with a bow.

Dog ears? Shino hadn't noticed them. But this place was suddenly odd enough that she'd believe it. "Maybe…"

"Quiet!"

Shino sighed. But these men were no kidnappers – their loud discussion betrayed confusion equaling hers and Kagome's about their appearance.

"Maybe they know your father," Kagome tried later on, when a mat had been laid out for them to sit on in what appeared to be the town square so that people could gawk at them. There were even women and children! Maybe Kagome had been dumped here by the kidnappers when they realized they couldn't demand a ransom for her? "You should try talking some sense into them."

"Maybe. Then they can call the authorities and we can get home. I'll give it a try." Shino cleared her throat before projecting, "May I please have your attention? Good people of…" She felt silly and would have scratched under her chin if she weren't bound by the wrists. "I'm sorry, where are we?"

"Don't tell them!" gasped a villager.

"Right, they could be witches!"

"They'll endanger the village!"

"We are not witches!" Kagome frowned.

"Maybe fox spirits."

Kagome's bewilderment would have been funny if Shino didn't share it. "Not fox spirits, either."

"I didn't think backwater villages like this still existed," Shino breathed. "I've visited rural areas with father before and none of them are as wary as this."

"Maybe we're on the _outskirts_ of the outskirts of civilization," Kagome muttered. It was a dumb misunderstanding. And she was still curious about the dog-eared boy. How could Shino not have seen those things? "This is impossible…"

"Make way for high priestess Kaede!"

A stout old woman wearing a patch over her right eye came forth, a bow in her hand and a quiver strapped to her back. She held a loose grip on a small satchel, her expression neutral as she approached. Not at all like the fear and apprehension worn by the villagers.

"Now what," muttered Kagome. Shino sighed.

Stopping right before them, the old woman stuck her hand into it and sprinkled the two girls with powder that made Shino sneeze. "Demon begone," she uttered.

Shino gave an uncharacteristic scoff. She didn't like to think of herself as haughty, but this was just rude! "Excuse me—hachoo!"

"Hey! We're not demons, okay?" Kagome scowled, wrinkling her nose.

The old woman, Kaede, squinted at them. "Then why were ye found in the forest of Inuyasha?"

* * *

After a confusing interrogation and more squinting on Kaede's part, Shino recovered. The old priestess seemed less concerned about her than Kagome, having been staring at her friend since inviting them into her home. It was a small hut with barely enough living space for four people, but it was homely enough with space for a natural heater. Instead of the usual sliding doors, this house had only a bamboo flap. Was it all they could afford, given the number of houses in the village and the abundance of trees in the forest? Shino didn't know much about provincial housing.

At any rate, she was only too happy when Kaede decided they were not at all a threat, declared as much to the villagers – who held so much faith in her that they agreed without question – and even fed them soup. Shino didn't realize she hadn't eaten breakfast until she smelled the broth. Granted, it was a simple meal; in the face of her hunger it was the best of her life. But the old woman had no idea where Tokyo was, which meant Kagome was right – this was even farther than the farthest outskirts they'd heard of. _Everyone_ knew where Tokyo was. What was this place?

Easily finishing her meal, Shino set down her bowl. Kagome was less enthusiastic about the food, but she hadn't been trained to swallow food she hated for the sake of politeness. Clearing her throat as Kagome carried on with the task, Shino smiled at Kaede. "Thank you for the meal and your hospitality, priestess Kaede. Now, we were wondering…"

Kaede lifted her head and raised her good eye from the fire. She urged Shino to continue with a nod when a tremor in the ground and the sound of exploding wood racked their senses. Kagome nearly lost her soup in the fire. A bell rang out, echoed by the cries of the villagers. Getting to her feet with the agility of one twenty years younger, Kaede bolted out the door. Naturally, Shino and Kagome followed their host outside.

Smoke from the ruined village rose into the air. A long, segmented appendage sprang into the clear, sticks poking out from its sides. Shino's jaw fell as the image cleared in her mind. Not as a simple appendage but a body itself, like a centipede's – and the naked upper torso of a woman attached at its forefront, multiple human arms attached to its sides like the gods of Hindu mythology Tomohito liked to read to her about as children.

Kagome and Shino instinctively locked arms. "Inhuman," muttered the latter.

"Nay, a demon," Kaede corrected her simply, as though she'd confused Udon noodles with Soba.

"It's that thing!" exclaimed Kagome.

"You know that monster!?" Tomohito was a mythology buff and had read to Shino all kinds of creatures, but who ever imagined meeting one? Or being attacked by one in a strange village, for that matter? It demanded a _sacred jewel_, but there was little time to wonder what that was. The centipede-woman dipped low, snaking round the village before diving through the smoke for them.

Kaede groaned and got up on her arms, glancing at Kagome. "It said sacred jewel! Bear ye it still?"

Shino stared between them both, confused and horrified. "_What_?"

"I have no idea," said Kagome, shaking her head. Shino gaped at her. How was she still forming coherent sentences? "I mean, I've heard of the jewel, but I—"

The village men retreated to Kaede. It was curious that they deferred to this priestess, this old woman. How long had it been since something like that occurred? "Spears, arrows, nothing works!" they panicked.

"Lure it to the dry well," instructed Kaede. "In the forest of Inuyasha."

Shino hadn't noticed Kagome stiffening until she broke from their link. "Which way is the forest? Where the light's shining, right?"

"Kagome! Where are you going?" gasped Shino, stumbling after her friend's departing figure. She hesitated. Wouldn't it be safer with others? "What light?"

"I'll draw it away!"

Kaede called it Mistress Centipede, who bludgeoned Shino out of the way with another swing of her tail in her haste for Kagome. Shino lost her view of the only familiar person in the world clearly not their own. She wanted to run after Kagome, but the dust from the rising soil and the flying debris of the village sent her into coughing fits. One of the village men pulled Shino to her feet, asking if she was all right.

What a blow to her pride. She had always tried to be the type of girl who would never have to answer the genuine question. The self-defense classes, the weapon training, and her knees had buckled in the face of a creature Kagome was throwing herself at as bait to save these strangers?

"Girl! Snap out of it!"

Growing up in the environment she had, Shino had been desperate to construct an image of independence, both to herself and everyone else. Not a spoiled tenderfoot but a nimble warrior. Ayumi had always been the gentle one. Yuka and Eri were both strong-willed, determined to get what they wanted, and Kagome was level-headed. Which explained her easy attitude, but Shino had always thought of herself as…somewhere in between, choleric at times under the strong pair's influence but still the most likely to lead them in a crisis. Her station made her think so, she supposed, which was ironic—given that she didn't want to be judged by it to begin with when she already had herself.

"You must escape with the women and the children!"

Another band of men bearing spears, bows, and free horses had arrived, perhaps the ones who had evacuated the innocents. Kaede was directing them as to the plan of attack, dividing them between those who would remain to protect the village from demons that might take advantage of the situation and the group to follow Mistress Centipede.

Retrieving her wrist from the man who tried to help her, Shino shook her head. "No. Priestess, allow me to join you."

Kaede watched the girl doubtfully from her horse. "Ye must go with the others. This will be a dangerous altercation."

"I can't allow Kagome to throw herself into danger like this!" Shino hollered. At the woman's shocked reaction, she calmed herself. "I've ridden horses since I was a child and I can wield a blade – and a spear, I suppose. Please, Kaede."

Kaede sighed. "Very well," she said, motioning a horse and spear for Shino, but it was clearly against her better judgment. The only reason she allowed it was that Shino's part in all this mess was still hazy to her, not to mention the girl had appeared to finally gather her wits about her.

"Thank you," Shino bowed, then swung over to her given steed. They went swiftly on their way to the 'forest of Inuyasha,' who was supposed to be that boy pinned to the tree. Their only lead was the last marks of Mistress Centipede's tail, which appeared to have dug into the ground like small swords cleaved into the earth.

"Does this happen to your village often?" she asked, riding side-by-side with Kaede.

"Not in a long time, child. Where did ye learn to ride so well?"

"My parents hired a coach," answered Shino, absentmindedly, barely noticing the shock of the village men at her riding skill. In any other occasion, she would have beamed at the slight awe, but they were past the fields now, coming close to the forest spanning the hill. "There! Mistress Centipede!"

The demoness was playing tug-of-war for Kagome with the great tree. It was difficult to describe – her many human limbs were wrapped around the schoolgirl's waist while Kagome attempted to remain close to the tree by clutching at Inuyasha's silver hair at all costs. The boy himself was shouting painfully. Why he was now awake Shino had no idea, but it seemed to displease the villagers. Was it the ears? She noticed them now and wondered what those must feel like.

Nevertheless, Shino licked her lips and swallowed, eyes focused on Mistress Centipede. It was now or never, and never meant Kagome would die!

Shino lifted her spear arm, hoping her aim would prove true despite its record of 'never having done so.' "Please," she muttered, ready to hurl it – until Kagome released Inuyasha and held out her palm at the Centipede. A burst of energy blew the demoness back, sending her into the trees. Her human limbs fell to the ground, ends still sizzling as though seared off by some flaming sword from the heavens.

"Kagome! Are you all right?" Shino called from across the gap bridged by the demoness. Kagome was staring curiously at her palm as though she hadn't almost just been eaten alive! (Kaede had explained to her on the way that most demons liked eating humans. What a joy.)

"Y-Yeah…" Kagome's eyes widened at the spear in Shino's hand. But it was she who'd gone and severed the Centipede's limbs with no weapon at all! They would have shared a relieved laugh had a sphere of lavender pink not begun to radiate from beneath Kagome's left breast.

"Watch out!" a man cried. Mistress Centipede slithered in from behind the great tree, jaw stretched unnaturally wide to reveal sharp fangs, and sank her teeth into Kagome's torso. Clenching her teeth into the bite, she threw the girl's body high above them.

Shino cried out wordlessly. To her relief, the length of Mistress Centipede's body broke Kagome's fall. She landed before the silver-haired boy, who spoke to her with a menacing expression. Shino was too far to hear, what with the demoness raving on about the sacred jewel again. She was growing impatient. It was tempting to remain a spectator, but she had already spent all day doing that. Dismounting her horse, she slipped into the forest surrounding the clearing. The others were too busy watching the Centipede throw Kagome around like a rag doll to notice her.

Shino found she basked in this neglect.

The trees were much more fearsome in the dark, especially since night had fallen. Still she kept her eyes trained on the clearing, praying her trembling feet wouldn't step on twigs or branches that would alert the demoness to her presence. Finally, she came close enough around the side of the tree of Inuyasha to spot the _sacred jewel_. She had caught something glint against the light when Kagome was in the air, but it only made sense now.

By this time, Kagome had wound up next to Inuyasha on top of his tree's roots on her belly, for Mistress Centipede had her body constricted around them, trapping them to the trunk. What was it about the jewel she wanted so much?

Shino began to understand as she squinted at the jewel from behind tangled shrubs. It was faint, less than a creak and quieter than a whisper, like a drop of water in a suddenly empty room. But she felt it, that promise of power. Could the jewel grant her the strength to defeat such a monster? Fear gripped her again until she saw Mistress Centipede come closer to the jewel.

"No!" growled Shino, leaping out into the moonlight. There were gasps, but her eyes and ears were only for the jewel. She picked it up and closed her fingers around it. Its hum pulsated through her body like it was giving her new life, and she never wanted to part with it again.

"The sacred jewel!" the demoness hissed, swaying as she rounded on Shino in her desire for it. "Give it to me!"

"What are ye doing!?" gasped Kaede.

"Hey, stupid!" shouted the boy with the dog ears. "Do you have a death wish? Give me the sacred jewel!"

The kindest first words she had ever heard. But Shino blocked them both out, a daredevil's spirit coursing from her hand to her heart. As the Centipede lunged at her, it burst from her fist. She had punched the demoness into a tree on the left side of the clearing!

Her victory was short-lived. With a single cheer she was distracted, allowing the Centipede to recover and head for her arm, biting off a considerable amount from her shoulder. Shino screamed – but only briefly. Her arm wound was clotting. It itched and healed in the matter of a minute. In retaliation, Shino grabbed a fistful of the demoness' face and yanked it out, fingers dripping in blood.

"Fool!" shrieked the demon. Shino dodged out of the way, rolling painfully into the tree, but the bump felt dull to her, far away. Like she was invincible.

The tail was squeezing into Kagome's back, pressing her stomach and chest tighter against the tree. "What's happening?" she managed to choke out.

"I have no idea," Shino answered honestly, getting up. "But I can defeat this demon."

"Don't be an idiot," snapped dog-ears. "I don't know what you are, but that demon is going to kill you!"

Shino glared at him for a moment – who was he to talk to her like that? – before running forward again, lifting her legs as the Centipede dashed for her ankles. Clawing at the woman's back, feeling her spine twitch around her fingers, Shino whisked down the length of the demon's body with her hand tearing at the skin as quickly as scissors through cloth. How had the jewel granted her such agility? Certainly, she and Kagome were healthy and participated in enough physical activity to keep up in something like gym class, but this was worlds different!

Mistress Centipede retained full control of her body despite the injury, however, which didn't stop her from flicking her tail at Shino. The girl flew into a tree so suddenly that she fell limp against it, releasing her grip on the sacred jewel.

"I knew it," muttered Inuyasha, but his eyes flashed when the demoness lowered her tongue to the jewel. As if wriggling within his segmented shackles would work, he shouted, "Don't you dare!"

When Shino regained consciousness, the Centipede's human skin had turned a mottled pink and brown, eyes red and human limbs reattached. Her eyes turned to Kagome, who groaned painfully. Her friend could barely breathe at this rate; any more and their ribs would break around their lungs.

"Shino!" Kagome called, but the adrenaline rush had come and gone. It wasn't exhaustion that overcame her, however; it was regret, like she had grasped at straws at the energy she possessed earlier and her fingers had lost their grip too soon.

"Look," Inuyasha growled at Kagome, his eyes leveled straight at Mistress Centipede. "Can you pull out this arrow or not?"

"Nay, child!" shouted Kaede. "Once the arrow is removed, Inuyasha will be free to destroy us all!"

Shino's eyes traveled up to the boy whose ears and hair were unlike any other's. So he was powerful. Why did he need the sacred jewel if he already possessed strength enough to cause Kaede fear? Although if he really was strong, she supposed he wouldn't have been pinned to that tree. Unless he slept there with an arrow in his chest for his own pleasure?

"Don't be stupid, you old hag! At least with me you've got a chance – whereas that thing's gonna _eat _you!" Inuyasha shouted in return. "And what about you?" he addressed Kagome. "Are you ready to die yet?"

Shino came to a decision. If it was the creepy woman with a centipede for legs who'd bitten at her body parts and Kagome's or the boy who liked sleeping with an arrow in his chest pinned to a tree upright and expected his rudely-stated wishes to be granted, she picked the pretty silver hair. "Pull it out, Kagome!"

Kagome chose the same thing right as her friend screamed. As soon as she got her fist around the shaft of the arrow, it burst into a spattering of the pink light, as in the jewel. The glow around Inuyasha faded as his shoulders shook. Shino thought at first that he might be having a seizure. Maybe the arrow had kept him alive somehow, and removing it was finally killing him, but the boy was _laughing_.

Shino got up, preparing to request that he desist that ridiculous, ill-timed mirth when Mistress Centipede covered them entirely with her body. But she was given not even a moment to gasp when an explosion of light broke through the demon's legs, causing most of it to break off her main body. Shino dove to catch Kagome as she fell free; it was an attempt that ended with the latter's posterior on the former's now aching back. And it was a better landing than Kagome expected.

"Nasty hag!" spouted dog-ears, raising his right hand. Kagome and Shino leaned against each other to stand, seeing clearly that his nails were long enough to be called claws and sharp enough to be feared as weapons. At any other time, Shino might have found it highly unhygienic.

"Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!" roared Inuyasha, reaching for the demon's mouth. It sent a disc of red wind spinning into Mistress Centipede's jaw, cleaving her body in half. She fell into pieces around them, segments of different lengths and sizes twitching.

"Find the glowing flesh, quickly!" Kaede instructed Kagome, coming forward with the villagers. Shino had almost forgotten their presence. Understandable. Without the sacred jewel, she never could have survived even looking it in the eye. "That's where the jewel will be. It must be removed at once, lest the flesh of Mistress Centipede revive!"

"Tell me you're joking," Kagome shuddered, but Kaede's expression remained solemn as ever. So Kagome's eyes searched the twitching remains of the demoness' body until she saw it: the lavender pink glow that was now familiar to her. Blood was still dripping from the bisected segments. "It's that one!"

Shino stuck her hand into the warm…viscous…corpse…and focused on the perfect sphere her digits felt through her nails. She pulled it out, hand dripping of the coppery substance. She had only ever seen blood from light wounds – that looked almost a bright red. But the Centipede's blood was even deeper than crimson, no dramatics required. There it was again, the power – but Kaede snatched it immediately and handed it to Kagome.

"Only ye may possess the sacred jewel."

Shino looked away. How bizarre – as soon as Kagome took the jewel, Mistress Centipede's skin had all but melted off her bones, which looked about as fresh as fossils, now. The blood had disappeared from her hands like it was never meant to be there, though the smell remained.

Kaede's meaningful look as she gave Kagome the Shikon no Tama wouldn't leave Shino. It wasn't as though she wanted to keep the thing. It felt like the jewel had given her an energy she knew she could have but never did, like she'd reached the limits of her potential; that was all. She would never take something of Kagome's—especially since it had come from her _torso_. The thought was like trying to use someone else's limb, she supposed. Or wished she could.

Kagome inspected the jewel, glancing at Shino unsurely. "But why would I have a jewel wanted by demons?"

"Exactly," said Inuyasha, crushing one of Mistress Centipede's many ribcages with a mere stomp of his foot. "Humans can't use it, so why bother keeping it? If you hand the jewel over right now, I won't have to start sharpening my claws on you."

Shino took a step between him and Kagome, not that she believed there was much she could do if he chose to use those claws again. Still, there was merit in trying. Gave Kagome a chance to run, she supposed, the way Kagome saved the village earlier by running into the forest while she'd quivered in fear. Kaede appeared to think the same thing, spreading an arm out before them.

"I hate having to wait," muttered Inuyasha, a growl in his undertone, golden eyes flashing past Kaede and Shino, who felt like they were invisible to him faced with Kagome. "And I hate the smell of you!"

Shino would ponder the fact but nudged her friend first as the silver-haired boy lunged at them at a pace she had almost managed earlier. Kagome broke into a sprint behind her only to trip over the scattered bones. And it was a good thing she had, too, because Inuyasha had swung his claws right over her falling figure.

"You really tried to hit me just now, didn't you?" The disbelief rang in Kagome's voice.

Anger spiked in Shino's chest. Not that they had ever been formally introduced, meaning she had no reason to trust him in any way – his protection of them had obviously been a by-product of his own survival – but she was still indignant. They had possessed a common enemy, she supported his release and Kagome had broken the arrow binding him, so this was still turning on them. "That would have been a fatal swing, you…! You dog!"

Inuyasha stared at her like it was the first time he'd seen her. "What an insult," he smirked, when he was clear on the fact that she was human. "So you want me to scratch your back first?"

A din rose from the villagers, who'd finally come to a consensus as to their plan of action: shoot arrows at the boy who killed the Centipede demon without even touching her. But he deflected them with a lift of his arm as though his red haori were as tough as a metal shield and vaulted, clawed at the trees surrounding the men. Trunks and bark fell all around them, shaking the earth, trapping them into a triangle.

"Who do you people think I am?" boasted dog-ears. "You think you can hurt me like I did that Centipede?"

"I can get him," Shino promised, taking the jewel from Kagome and pretending not to hear her shocked yelp. This was an emergency. "I can knock him out. Run!"

Inuyasha hadn't seen the exchange and leapt for the girl who smelled like Kikyo, claws at the ready when the short-haired one tackled him to the ground, grabbing his right arm. Attempting to break free, he scratched at her with his left, but she had a tight grip and pushed his arm down on his neck, straddling him with strength unnatural for a human girl her age. Unless she was a priestess of some sort – dumb idea given that skimpy thing she was wearing. Why was she using only her left hand to grip him? He got his answer when he caught the scent in her fist, the one she refused to open.

"So you _were_ using the sacred jewel," he sneered. "What the hell are you?"

Inuyasha managed to wriggle out of her grasp in their struggle, pulling one of his knees loose, and kick her into a tree. It seemed the norm for everyone of late, thought Shino, but the jewel numbed the pain. Not that it meant her body could take the impact. Her opponent growled, reaching for her, but she dove beneath him and lifted her neck with some difficulty. Kagome was still watching them.

"Run!" repeated Shino. This battle was lost, but maybe Kagome could use it, too. Shino tossed the jewel at her friend, hopeful that a little of her strength would remain – but it was wishful thinking at its finest. As soon as the Shikon no Tama left her touch, Inuyasha headbutted Shino into another tree trunk. Only the ground caught her dead weight.

"Damn it," growled Inuyasha. The jewel was no longer there. Leaving the meddlesome girl where she lay, he raised his eyes to the one who smelled like Kikyo. She yelped, eyes shifting between him and the Thing – whatever she was, because she was no demon – before squaring herself, raising the jewel in her hand, and bolting.

Inuyasha snarled and hurtled after Kagome.


	2. Nice Job, Heroes

**Feet First**

**Chapter 2: Nice Job, Heroes**

It was early morning when Shino woke, because she was shivering and looking for more blankets that weren't there. She must have fallen off the bed, too, since the mattress that lay beneath her hardly merited the name. It was almost like someone had slipped an old, decaying futon between her body and the floorboards, unaware that without the futon would have been just as effective.

Or it was nighttime, since Kagome was still awake. Had she fallen asleep the earliest? Was this a sleepover?

In their sleepovers, intense Eri was always the first gone; Yuka and Ayumi traded second and third. She usually had the most endurance, largely because sleepovers in which she was allowed to participate were few and far between and she wanted to savor them as much as possible. Kagome stayed up in consideration of this, sometimes till sunrise, and they waited for each other to fall asleep while discussing anything that still came to mind with groggy voices, half-lidded eyes and limbs heavy with fatigue.

"You're awake!" gasped Kagome. The light of the fire flickering beside her bared naked the dark rings under her friend's eyes.

Sitting up slowly, Shino resisted the urge to return to sleep. Her eyelids felt like a stretching rubber band, snapping back together with more strength the longer she tried to keep them open. "What…happened," she mumbled.

"Inuyasha has been subdued," announced Kaede.

Her voice cleared Shino's mind, giving her the energy to turn her head. This wasn't home at all. "I'm sorry?"

"Kaede managed to form Beads of Subjugation around his neck. He can't remove them no matter how hard he tries," Kagome briefly explained. "I say these magic words and he… gets subjugated," she laughed softly.

Shino wondered why it was humorous. He almost killed them and he'd knocked her out well enough that her back ached; it wasn't helped by the pain in her shoulder where Mistress Centipede had ripped out her skin. In their world, that would have warranted…maybe not death, but quite a prison sentence. Then again, in their world she and Kagome wouldn't have been in danger of a giant centipede, making them desperate enough to release a creature with dog-ears. Yes—his name was Inuyasha.

"What's so funny?" Kagome asked this time.

"I'm amused…" Shino smiled in her groggy state. "That I can think so clearly even when I…want to rest…"

Kaede shook her head. "Then rest. There is still much to be discussed in the morning."

Shino nodded off, reclining slowly, but opened her eyes again to reach out for her friend. "Kagome?"

Kagome met her hand warmly. "Hmm?"

"Happy birthday."

Kagome would have laughed if she weren't exhausted from the day's events. "Thank you, Shino."

It was all Shino could take until she fell against the old futon again.

* * *

That morning, she stirred to a discussion between Kagome and Kaede. "…and not just demons," the latter was saying. "There are humans whose hearts are more evil still, and only the jewel has the power to make real their petty ambitions."

"Like that Thing?"

Shino blinked at the voice. "Dog-ears," she muttered from the side of her mouth. Her etiquette teacher had said it was extremely uncouth to speak in such a manner, and it was exactly why she did it with added disdain. He was sitting in the hut in such a relaxed position that one would think he'd been invited there! And to rudely point at her? "I'm a person, and my name is Shino."

"You're awake," repeated Kagome, making her friend wonder if she smiled in relief as well as approval of Shino's treatment of Inuyasha. "How are you feeling?"

Prone, Shino saw the bandage on Kagome's side where the jewel had sprung forth. And yet she asked about _her_ condition? She felt her love for her friend grow stronger. "Better, thank you. I was only tired, I guess. Being headbutted didn't help. What about you, Kagome?"

"You asked for it," Inuyasha interjected. "If you didn't get in the way, I'd probably have the jewel now."

"It is curious that ye could gain direct power from it," remarked Kaede, looking over Shino. "But ye are no demon. A manner of…benevolent spirit, perhaps?"

"I'm fairly sure of my humanity," Shino attempted to placate Kaede as much as her own meandering thoughts. "At any rate, the strength only comes when I touch the jewel. I'm powerless otherwise; so I must be human. One without petty ambitions, I think."

Kaede dropped the matter with thoughtful silence, and Kagome sent an annoyed look Inuyasha's way. "Speaking of petty, what are you still doing here?"

The boy reacted to the question as if it was so unnecessary, it warranted hostility. "I'm waiting for the jewel."

Shino expressed, "I'm uncomfortable with his presence."

"Don't worry," Kagome smirked. "Those beads around his neck make it so that he can't attack us anymore."

"I see," Shino noted the violet beads over Inuyasha's haori. "The Beads of Subjugation." She jogged her memory from the night previous, something about those words. "So what are the magic words, Kagome?"

"Hmm. Well, it goes—"

Inuyasha jerked to his feet. "No!"

"Sit, boy."

Shino stared. Inuyasha had fallen face first into the floorboards without a thought as to where his arms or legs were, so she stared at a heap that was the boy's body. In horror at first, head turning slowly to Kaede – who bore the tiniest smirk on her thin lips.

It was rude but infectious. Kagome had her fingers over her mouth, mumbling a half-hearted _oops_, but Shino's widening grin had already broken into an incurable bout of laughter. "Do it again," she begged when she recovered, hand clutched to her stomach to catch her breath.

Inuyasha whined in protest, painfully tugging at the necklace. "If you weren't half-dead like the old hag here, I'd have killed you already," he grumbled at Shino.

"Sit, boy," Kagome uttered as punishment.

His childishness was both rude and amusing. And Shino couldn't say he wasn't handsome, though the dog-ears were off-putting. "Actually, I feel better now." Throwing off the blankets, she smoothed out her school skirt as she rose. "May I ask about the...ears? Is that a demon thing?"

"It's a half-demon thing, and I wouldn't have 'em anymore if you just gave me the jewel," retorted Inuyasha.

"Right." Shino stretched her arms and peeked out of the hut. As expected, most of the village had been destroyed and the people were busy with reparations. "If there's nothing else, I'd like to help with the reconstruction of your town, Kaede."

Kagome frowned. "Shino, you're still weak. And we have to find a way back home."

"I feel better. Honest," insisted Shino, stepping out. A touch of the jewel would power her up just fine, but she'd seen the thought on Kaede's face when Inuyasha mentioned her as a potential threat. She was sure their families and friends were very worried, but it couldn't hurt too much to stay for just a while longer in this place. Besides, who could say time had actually passed in their world? Days here could only be minutes there, said the part of her that read fantasy novels in her spare time. So she kept telling herself.

Escaping further protest from Kagome, Shino exited Kaede's hut. The men were slightly reluctant to accept her aid not for her odd getup but because the rest of the women were currently focused on caring for the children and cooking for their husbands, sons, and brothers working on the houses. There was also that superhuman strength she'd displayed during the fight with Mistress Centipede, but they eventually gave into the persistent, polite girl, who needed hard labor to help her sort this all out in her mind.

Carrying the materials was out of the question since the jewel was out of her hands, stripping her of that power. But she did have enough energy to hammer away at the houses. Shino had experienced it once with her father and brother on one of their family's courtesy visits to the more rural areas of the country for purposes of immersion into the preserved culture of the ancients. Tomoyo and her mother helped with the cooking, of course, but Shino looked up to Tomohito so much that she wanted to do whatever he did—building houses and irrigating fields—no matter who scolded her for it.

The labor was much more difficult than she remembered. It was very tiring, and by lunch time she had sweated fully into her school uniform. Even then, their progress was all worth it. So much was accomplished in the time frame in which they'd worked that Shino figured they were accustomed to such attacks, though Kaede said it had been a while.

Not only that, but the villagers were receptive to the idea that Kagome was the reincarnation of their once glorious priestess, a woman named Kikyo, the older sister of Kaede who died fifty years past – and who pinned Inuyasha to the great tree with a sacred arrow. The details were fuzzy, but the information she gleaned was enough of an explanation as to Inuyasha's apparent hatred for Kagome. It was hard to imagine a close friend sharing a soul with anybody else, but this place was peculiar. As soon as Shino had seen Mistress Centipede, she knew anything was possible.

"Uh, miss—" one of the younger men cleared his throat behind her. She hadn't met any of them, having been thrown in with the older villagers with lighter work, but this one seemed friendly. "It's time to eat."

"Great," Shino set down the tools and clapped her hands. That was enough hard labor for the rest of the day. Whether or not she wanted to be seen as weak and though she was proud of their speed, it simply wasn't her calling. That and she was dead tired, her dominant arm aching from pounding and sawing and her other from leaning on it. "I'm famished."

"Actually, Lady Kikyo says—that is, Lady Kagome is requesting that you share a meal with her."

But what she loved about this village was that Kagome was the more important one out of them here; she a lady, and Shino a miss. The formal speech was wholly superfluous! It was absolutely– "Wonderful," grinned Shino. "Where is she?"

"Down by the paddy fields, miss."

"Thank you!" Shino saluted the man and jogged off. She was aware he wouldn't understand the gesture, but that was the fun of it. A theory was starting to form in her mind, and she'd entertained many while she worked with the villagers. This wasn't some other world – they shared the exact language and culture with the Japanese. Their village wasn't backward – it was just the kind of technology perfect for their time.

Time. They had time-traveled.

To a past where demons were abundant and ran amok, but it was the only explanation Shino could come up with that wouldn't completely shatter her brain.

Kagome was pretending to apologize to a faceplanted Inuyasha under a tree when Shino found her friend. His necklace was still glowing from the incantation, and Shino couldn't help but feel some pity. That would certainly form bruises, though his face appeared just as it did that morning. Perhaps it wounded the ego even deeper – and neither had the exasperation worn off yet.

"Hello, everyone," she greeted. "Are those pears?"

"The best!" grinned Kagome, tossing her one. Her temporary bag, lent by one of the women, had an assortment of vegetables and fruits. Didn't seem likely to be finished soon. "What were you up to all morning?"

"Yeah, you stink," muttered Inuyasha. Shino was suddenly less inclined to feel any pity for him.

"As I said earlier, I was helping the villagers. Which is more than I can say for you." Her eyes narrowed at Inuyasha. "Half-demon."

"Thing," was his new retort. "Why should I help them, anyway?"

"Their former priestess spared you, for one, instead of killing you outright with that sacred arrow."

"You don't know what you're talking about," huffed Inuyasha, sitting upright. "And how do _you_ know about that?"

"The villagers talk," answered Shino, biting into her fruit. "They think you're her reincarnation, Kagome."

"I know," Kagome groaned, one hand rubbing over her face in frustration. "They think I'm _high priestess Kikyo_ from fifty years ago. So does Kaede. How do you think I got all this food?"

"I'm grateful," Shino offered. "Anyway, I think I have it figured out. Kagome, these people say you're a reincarnation, which must mean we're in the future, just of the past! …All right, that doesn't make much sense. But think about it. You traversed the well because of a demoness searching for the sacred jewel hidden in your torso. The villagers tell that Kikyo was burned with the same jewel fifty years ago.

"So if you _are _a reincarnation, they believe correctly! Only, it took more than fifty years to have her soul come back to the world since we're born in the twentieth century. Yet we've gone back to the past," she spoke more slowly now in accordance with the squinted eyes of both companions, though Inuyasha tried not to appear interested, "_after _Kikyo's death. But still long before our own time."

Kagome looked very thoughtful. Inuyasha simply shook his head at Shino. "You're crazy, Thing."

"I don't expect you to understand, Half-demon." Shino turned her nose up at him. "I heard you were asleep for fifty years. Expect that dulls the _noggin_ a bit."

"Grr…"

"Now, now," Kagome shook her head at Shino reprovingly, like she was supposed to know better. Shino's shoulders slumped. She guessed she was. The freedom this time had given her was just so exhilarating that she forgot her place—above teasing half-demons. "Can't we all just get along?"

"We'll get along when you give me the jewel!" declared Inuyasha, jumping up to the branch above them and crossing his arms.

In a way, Inuyasha's demeanor reminded her of Tomohito – when he was ten years old. A ten year-old with the power to destroy thirty-foot Centipede demons. How did anyone in this time ever manage to sleep at night?

"So what do you think?" Shino asked Kagome. "I thought about it all morning."

"I think it makes perfect sense," said Kagome, who didn't have the heart to tell her friend she'd already pieced that together after Kaede told her about the Kikyo reincarnation business, especially since Shino had been such a good sport about this whole thing. Much better than she was, anyway. She was actually willingly interacting with the villagers! Then again, Shino probably had experience or even training dealing with complete strangers like them, but it was still something Kagome didn't want to do right now. How was Shino not thinking about going home?

"Brilliant." Shino nodded, bringing her pear close to her mouth, but found she was now gnawing at its bone. "Huh?"

Kagome stared at her like she was both amazing and peculiar. "You finished it in a few bites…here, have another one."

"Thank you. I don't know why I'm so hungry," Shino finished with a chuckle, though it didn't remove Kagome's worried expression. "As I was saying, the well we traveled through might be our portal between the ages."

"I was just thinking that!" Kagome gasped. "So we should go there, right?"

Shino's chewing slowed. "…Yeah, of course. But I still have to help Kaede's villagers with their houses. Or…I think I'll help the women gather supplies for cooking after this…as it turns out, I'm not that cut-out for hard labor."

"Do you want to stay here?" Kagome lifted an eyebrow. "My family must be so worried by now, Shino…! And your family's definitely going crazy. If the press hasn't already."

Shino inwardly groaned, but nodded amicably. "You're right. Of course you're right, Kagome. What was I thinking?" That seeing another demon would be excellent. "No," Shino denied to herself, earning an odd look from her friend. "Um…we'll look into the well, obviously—"

"Miss Shino," said the same young man, coming up to them, after bowing incessantly to 'Lady Kikyo.' "Priestess Kaede wonders if you'd like to help with fletching arrows."

"Really?" Shino was on her feet in a flash. "She said that?"

The villager nodded.

Kagome's arm jerked up. "Shino…"

"I can't deny the woman who gave us the Beads of Subjugation," Shino shrugged, masking her glee with a helpless smile. "I'll see you later, Kagome. Half-demon."

Inuyasha didn't move from his branch, only huffing, "Thing."

Kagome glared up at him and sighed when Shino was out of earshot. She had thought her friend would be more concerned about going home than learning how to put feathers on arrows! Why was she being so unreasonable?

Apparently her only companion left had finally turned back to face her. "What's eating you _now_?"

"…Sit, boy."

Inuyasha regretted the question immediately. Not that his pride could ever admit it.

* * *

Shino felt well enough to have a go at the houses again the next morning, though she felt groggier than the day before. Sleep and hunger gnawed at her body even if she'd eaten the lion's share of the food offered to Kagome for breakfast. It was like a parasite was gobbling up the energy she regained every time she ate. Was this time's lack of medicine catching up with her health already? Was her immune system failing her? But that logic was wrong. She should be stronger given where – or _when_ – she came from…right?

"Thing."

Shino was reluctantly resting from work when Inuyasha had come along, sitting on both his hands and feet like a dog upright, as usual. The number of villagers working around her dissipated in seconds, muttering things about hearing someone asking for help fixing another house somewhere. They weren't as afraid of him with Kagome around, but they still tried to keep their distance from _the_ half-demon Inuyasha.

"Half-demon," she addressed him with the same dismissive tone. Shino had learned long ago not to hold grudges, so in truth she had nothing against him especially given his condition as a helpless runt in the face of Kagome's 'sit,' but there was no reason to stop playing that game of name-calling if he wasn't going to. There was her pride to consider. "What do you want?"

"Have you seen that girl?"

Shino blinked. "Do you mean Kagome? That is her name."

"Yeah, yeah."

"No."

"Aren't you best friends or something? Shouldn't you know?"

"You've hounded her like a lovesick puppy since she released you from the sacred tree. Shouldn't you?"

"Have not! And I wouldn't be asking you if I did."

Inuyasha had a point, but Shino thought little of it. "Say, your attack. Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer. Was it learned from a master or a creation of your own?"

His claws shimmered in the daylight, accompanied by a menacing chuckle. "Do you want me to demonstrate it on you?"

Still trying to play the villain, but the beads on his neck rendered it ineffective. "If you want Kagome to make you sit on your face for the rest of your life, feel free."

"Oh, yeah," Inuyasha scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "You're powerless without the jewel, aren't you?"

Shino sighed. The power was so vivid she felt she could reach out and access it again, but it was impossible. She had spent all night trying. "I don't understand it, either."

Inuyasha made a face at the short-haired girl who was like a younger Kaede – calm in the face of his taunting even if they both knew he could rip her to shreds. Except she could tap into the power of the jewel like some demon, but that had already slipped his mind. Villagers were running up to them, and the old hag wasn't far behind.

"Lady Kagome is missing!" The way they reported it to her, it was like she was expected to ease their worries and tell them where she was. But Shino hadn't seen Kagome since breakfast.

Kaede's brows furrowed. "She might have already gone. But wouldn't she have left with ye, Shino?"

"Have you checked the dry well near the great tree?" asked Shino. "We agreed we'd try to…return home today, but we promised to do it after lunch. Maybe—hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Inuyasha was leaving in the direction of the forest. She had grabbed his haori, but he easily pulled free. "None of your business."

"If you're going to Kagome, take me with you."

Inuyasha reared his head at her in annoyance. "Why should I?"

He seemed determined to give her a hard time, but Shino appreciated it, in a way. Hardly anyone ever did outside her family. And Kagome was perfectly capable of keeping him under a leash, so to speak—though that didn't mean Shino liked the idea of being alone with him, especially given his intentions for the jewel. It seemed a necessary evil just now. "Don't you think you have a better chance of returning with her and the jewel with me in tow?"

Her logic made sense to Inuyasha, who begrudgingly agreed to take her on his back for quicker travel. Kaede wished them luck, sending a few men searching through the well, and they were on their way. To his credit, Inuyasha crossed through the safer areas of the forest instead of those practically obscured with branches and sharp twigs that would surely nip at her skin. It was odd having any man hold her legs – bare legs, for that matter – but Inuyasha obviously only had one thing on his mind. He was certainly not like the other boys her father warned her about.

Then again, he was an uncouth half-demon with an uncanny sense of smell.

"What's that?" asked Shino, when they stopped on a tall tree branch. It had taken all of her self-control not to end the question with _boy _and pat his ears. "Smell anything?"

"Demons," said Inuyasha. "Why did she have to take the jewel with her…?"

"There's no use whining about it," snapped Shino. "The sooner we find her, the sooner this search will end."

"Hey, I don't have to bring you, you know," retorted Inuyasha. "In fact…" He jumped down and dropped her where they stood in the forest. "I think I'll dump you here right now."

Unfortunately, the thought of her friend did not remove the knowledge that her tailbone would kill her the next morning. "You're taking me with you to Kagome. If she's in danger…!"

"Look," Inuyasha brushed her hand away before she could reach for his haori again. "You've got spunk, but I doubt you can back it up with strength. You'll just get killed like a dumb girl if I bring you, got it?"

Shino paused. "Is that concern?"

"Shut up," growled Inuyasha, and leapt away.

Shino rubbed her posterior and stood. Left in a forest with no way back to Kaede's village. Why did all the trees look the same? And whose foolish idea was this, anyway? Hers – of course. Her family was going to kill her. And not just for being away from home for ages. But they felt so far away – the problem of handling news about her disappearance didn't matter compared to the stench of demons mixed with Kagome's. She was told as a child that the only way to go was forward, and it rang in her mind now more than ever before.

"Wait for me, Inuyasha!" she shouted, following the sound of rustling leaves left in his wake.

Soon she saw a clearing in the distance. It turned out to be a small house, maybe a storage facility of that time, with questionable-looking men fleeing from the place like schoolgirls screaming from a bumblebee flitting about in the classroom. Between her and the house were bridled horses, quietly nibbling on patches of grass, one brown and another white with gray spots. She wondered what they were going on about when a dark crow swept down to the ground after them. Something in its beak now shimmered lavender pink under the sun.

"Oh, no."

Shino climbed the saddle of the spotted horse. Thank goodness it gave her no trouble, because the crow was getting away with the jewel! She dug her heels into what she hoped was a noble, well-exercised steed – and it was, galloping as fast as it could where she directed it. The path they followed led them to a road first and then back into the forest. Her mount was accustomed to the terrain and rode on right as she looked up and caught sight of a red haori and a green school skirt. The colors couldn't be missed.

"Kagome! Inuyasha!" They had broken out of the forest and into a grassy plain when they finally noticed her.

"You just don't give up, do you?" yelled Inuyasha, sprinting beside her horse, then looked back at Kagome. "The crow lives by eating human flesh. If you think that's bad, let it swallow the jewel! Shoot it already!"

"It swallowed it!" Kagome noted with a slight simper. Inuyasha groaned in exasperation as the crow grew to the size of a vulture, talons thicker, sharper, more prominent. Kagome had never used a bow and arrow in her life, but she could _not_ let it keep the jewel, much less eat people! And Shino was out of the question because her aim was probably the worst in the history of throwing things (never pass a note to Shino unless she's passing the note to someone she can reach, it was well-known in class), so it was up to her.

Strengthening her resolve, Kagome said, "Fine. I'll try."

Inuyasha left Shino in the dust with a leap. She watched her companions draw close to the crow, and Kagome fired the arrow – only for it to fall limply in the trees beside them. Inuyasha was so shocked by the turn of events that he fell on his face even without a command. Shino slowed her horse to a gallop until she caught up with them and halted completely.

"What was that?" she asked, lamely.

"I thought you said Kikyo was a master archer!" Kagome blamed Inuyasha.

The boy raised his face from the dirt. "She was! It's you that's the klutz!"

"Then get up so I can try again!" ordered Kagome. Inuyasha grumbled and eventually obeyed the girl, but her subsequent attempts to shoot the crow failed, and her personal mount tired of carting her around with no success. When Shino reached them again, he had already left Kagome in favor of chasing the crow himself.

"I can't believe he actually left me here," seethed Kagome. "We've got to get that jewel back, Shino!"

"I know," agreed her friend, stretching her arm out. "Let's go!"

A village wasn't far ahead. It looked much more developed in comparison, with a proper town square and more village space, houses with actual doors. The same river that coursed through Kaede's village ran between the forest and the western end of town, though it was much less tempting at the moment with the crow flying over its bridge, from which the demon snatched an innocent child. Ignoring the villagers who screamed as they passed – Kagome was the one muttering a stream of apologies for every one they nearly trampled – Shino swept past them all to reach the riverbank, riding alongside the crow.

"Inuyasha, no!" gasped Kagome. Across the rushing river, he was jumping at the crow with his claws out and ready to strike. "You'll hurt the boy!"

"Back off!" he snarled, going through with the attack, swiping at the demon. The crow fell to pieces and dropped the child into the river.

"Where did it go?" Inuyasha yelled at the water. "Where's the jewel?"

"You idiot," Shino shouted in frustration. "Look what you've done!"

"Shino! We have to get the boy!"

Kagome was level-headed. Her priorities were the right ones, as always. Dismounting the horse and disposing of their footwear, the two girls dove into the water.

Kagome caught the boy in her arms and swam him ashore despite the current, taking him back to his sobbing mother. _What a day, what a girl, what an imp! _someone had cheered. Kagome found it pretty weird, but it was nice to be appreciated. Even if the people in this time only ever showed it in a creepy way, it seemed, save for the boy and his mother, both of whom bowed incessantly.

"It's okay," smiled Kagome, nodding at them. Inuyasha was yelling something at her from across the bank. She huffed at him to show her irritation until she remembered her friend still in the water. In retrospect, she should have gone for the jewel and Shino could have swum for the boy… "Shino! Find anything?"

"It's—the parts—coagulating!" Shino spluttered, head bobbing up and down the water. She had seen the jewel not far from where when the crow had begun to piece itself back together somehow, just as Kaede predicted Mistress Centipede would if they didn't take the jewel immediately. How had she forgotten such an important detail? Kicking against the current with as much strength as she could muster, Shino managed to grab the crow's wing as it dredged itself out of the water and rose into the air.

"Whoa!" Shino grabbed the crow's neck, pulling her legs over it like a proper mount, but it flew unevenly because of her weight. And she was flying! Although the crow was working especially hard to throw her off, tilting to the side—

"Shino!" gasped Kagome, eyes darting left and right for something to use. A bow and arrow! It was the only way to catch something that far for now… One of the crow's feet had revived on the boy she rescued – she bound it to the arrow with a piece of string and got ready to shoot. If this didn't catch the crow, nothing would at this rate.

"My butt she's going to hit it," muttered Inuyasha, watching helplessly as the bird rose higher into the air. He could probably leap at it, but that girl would definitely fall to pieces with it. "Hey! Tell the Thing to get off it already! She's making it worse!"

"So catch her!" Kagome yelled back. "I'll only shoot if you catch Shino!"

"What?" Inuyasha complained, but started running. "Get off already, Thing!"

Keeping a helpless grasp of the crow's wing, Shino tucked in her chin and looked down. She had no fear of heights, but she knew about water feeling like a wall of bricks when one fell to it from a certain height – and at this rate, with that current, Shino was certain it would feel like being hit by a truck. "Think, Half-demon. I'll die if I jump!"

Kagome drew the arrow with the twitching claw against the bowstring. "Inuyasha, catch her and I'll shoot! Shino, jump!"

Shino took a breath. It was one thing to entrust her life with a friend and another to entrust it with a half-demon being threatened by said girl, but she had no choice. Closing her eyes, she let go of the crow. Inuyasha didn't catch her as much as tackle her, though, and she landed by the bank, rolling on the ground. Inuyasha gave her a sigh like she was the most hopeless thing in the world before turning his eyes above.

When Shino recovered well enough to follow his gaze, the sky was streaming with lavender pink beams of light, like fireworks that spread in all directions and lasted forever. It was bright and glorious, even with the sun still shining, but for some reason it gave Shino the chills. It felt like they had reached for something important at the top shelf only to have the rest of the glassware come shattering to the floor.

* * *

"What did you _do _to it!?"

Well, Shino had been right about _something_ shattering. When Kagome bound the claw to the arrow she aimed at the crow, it had gone right for the bird's heart, which by then had possessed the sacred jewel. That meant she'd pierced the jewel itself, breaking it into a million tiny jewel fragments they would never find again. The end.

All right, not a million. And not that they couldn't ever find them again, and it wasn't the end at all, but Inuyasha certainly acted that way. They had spent the rest of the afternoon searching the forest surrounding the river for the jewel, only for Kagome to find two tiny shards. So the beams of light were other pieces of it, spreading through the rest of what they had now identified as Feudal Japan. Inuyasha made it so much better by groaning about it all the way back to Kaede's village, where they now rested.

"Stop barking, Inuyasha," Kaede scolded in that calm, dismissive way she always would.

"Leave it to _them_ to wind up breaking it!" he exploded nonetheless. Kaede defended Kagome another time, but Shino was focused on her friend. She still seemed shocked by the entire ordeal. And who wouldn't have been, knowing they had inadvertently given demons the chance to collect shards of pure power that could enhance their own strength tenfold, and more?

"I'm so sorry," Kagome mumbled. Shino wished she had words to comfort her.

Kagome had only been trying to help with something she obviously hadn't wanted to poke her nose into in the first place. She had gone missing because she wanted to check if the well would work for them, only to be captured by bandits, a series of events leading up to the fragmentation of the jewel. That was hardly her fault. And Shino knew she was partly to blame—if she'd only caught the jewel before the crow had revived, Kagome wouldn't have been forced to act. Her friend felt only guiltier because she was supposed to be its guardian's reincarnation.

"Kagome, Inuyasha, Shino," said Kaede, turning the shard over in her hand. "Only by working together can ye recover the shards of the Shikon no Tama."

Kagome's sorrow fizzled into incredulity. "What?"

Shino's compassion gave way to sparkling hope. "Is that so?"

* * *

Kaede convinced Kagome to stay. And it was good she had, too, because Shino couldn't rouse Kagome's suspicion about her desire to stay any more than it already was. Not even stay, really, simply learn about the past as much as was possible. How many people could say they had done that? Their families wouldn't believe them if they used that 'excuse,' but didn't Kagome see the chance they had? And what an experience it'd been so far. Not to mention demons and forests were much less boring than homework and empty gardens.

They were at one of the smaller, slower tributaries of the river. The neighboring village had it wider, its current stronger, but here was exactly the right spot for a proper soak. Shino had bathed and clothed herself quickly when Kaede offered to let her hold one of the jewel shards, even test if it really did boost her strength. Kagome, meanwhile, was still enjoying her dip, though initially she'd expressed a desire to Shino for something warmer. It took comforting from Shino to kill all her hopes of proper heating in this time.

"Try it with the shard," said Kaede.

Shino took the jewel shard in her right fist and punched a clay jar Kaede threw into the air. Her knuckles hurt, but the jar cracked from the blow. "I did it!" she cheered.

"And ye have no demon ancestry?" Kaede asked again.

"Not that I know of," answered Shino. It would certainly be in the history books if her family came from a line of demons. Although given the security and hullabaloo about them, it'd probably be a state secret. But why would such strength only manifest with something like the jewel? "I will ask my parents the next time I see them." If they hadn't been forced to disown her already.

"But be cautious, Shino," said Kaede. "Should your heart turn to greed as ye touch any fragment of the sacred jewel, the shard itself will be tainted. And only my sister possessed the power to purify the jewel. I wonder if Kagome wields the same power."

An easy solution, then, thought Shino. She believed Kagome possessed the spiritual abilities that Kikyo once had if the jewel came from her stomach, but she daren't mention it to Kaede. The old woman was admirable and knowledgeable in the ways of demons in that time, no matter if she didn't quite ride into battle herself the way Inuyasha did. (And with the grace of a recently swatted mosquito, at that, but it was difficult not to admit that the half-demon's methods were effective.)

So Shino nodded in acquiescence. "How about another jar?"

"AAAHH!"

Kaede dropped the jar in her hand and Shino's grip on the jewel shard tightened. "Kagome?"

"Sit, boy!"

Kagome heaved out of the water, scurrying for a towel and clothes and running behind a bush to change, all the while glaring at something miserably groaning behind the two. Without turning her head, Kaede asked, "Ye all right, Inuyasha?"

"It serves you right for spying on me, you peeping Tom!" Kagome cried from behind the bush.

"How shameful," Shino remarked, glancing at Inuyasha as she sat down and slipped the shard into Kaede's open palm. Strength deserted her like a vacuum, but she attempted to ignore it by drying Kagome's blouse. She had already washed her school clothes the night before.

"Shut up, Thing," grumbled Inuyasha. "Shows how much any of you know. The reason I—"

"You were here to steal the shard, correct?" Kaede finished.

Inuyasha snorted. "You're pretty smart…you old hag."

Kaede sighed. It was impossible for him to pay anyone a decent compliment. "You forget only Kagome can find the shards."

"Whatever," said Inuyasha. "I can put up with anything for the jewel!"

"You really do hate me, don't you?" Kagome frowned, stepping out into the open. She wore priestess garb not unlike Kaede's, her hair tied loosely in a ponytail.

"It looks great on you, Kagome," Shino thought aloud.

"Thanks," Kagome blushed.

Shino was curious about Inuyasha's opinion. Kaede said Kagome shared her appearance with Kikyo's, and if Kikyo once wore the same garments, then Inuyasha would be able to identify the woman who pinned him to the tree, wouldn't he? He stared at Kagome with an intense expression, but to Shino's surprise, it wasn't hatred. That was interesting.

"What are you looking at, Thing?" snarled Inuyasha.

Shino glanced away with a shrug. "I thought I saw more fleas in your hair than usual, that's all."

Kagome laughed while Inuyasha barked, "Why you—"

"…Lady Kaede?" A woman in villager's clothes – and by that Shino meant they weren't fine like Inuyasha's, or Kaede's and Kagome's at the moment – with a child no older than a year and a half on her back was attempting to ford the river to reach the old priestess.

"What is it?" asked Kaede, rising to meet the mother, who explained that her daughter was ill. The old woman nodded immediately. "I will be right there. Shino, ye expressed interest in my work? Why don't ye join me?"

"…Certainly," said Shino, touched that the priestess remembered her mentioning it the night before, but glanced back at their companions. "Is it wise to leave them alone together?"

"They must learn to get along," Kaede muttered, and called out to them, "I'll be checking up on ye two later. Try not to fight."

"Will you be fine?" Shino asked Kagome, who nodded and pat the shard in her palm.

"If he tries anything, I've got just the words."

Inuyasha showed them what he thought of that with an eyeroll, but Shino missed it in favor of following Kaede back to her hut. The woman's ten month-old daughter was struck with a high fever and terribly sick. Obviously accustomed to it, Kaede recommended that she feed the little girl certain herbs she grew near the forest not far from the village.

"Luckily I have a last batch here for ye," said Kaede, handing something wrapped in cloth to the woman. "Boil it and feed it as broth to your daughter."

Shino touched the back of her palm to the poor child's forehead. She was burning up and yet shivering. "It might also help if you gave her a bath."

Kaede lifted an eyebrow. "No, that would be most dangerous."

"Not a regular bath, I meant," Shino corrected herself. "Soak a washcloth in lukewarm water and rub it over your child's body. Limbs, chest and all. It should help lower the fever, if slightly."

"Truly?" asked the woman, glancing at Kaede for reassurance.

"It's a known method where I come from," affirmed Shino, while the mother murmured comforting words to her baby girl who had begun to cry. Kaede gave the woman herbs and instructions on how to properly use them and which parts were best while Shino rocked the child handed to her against the crook of her elbow.

"Try them both," Kaede nodded. She understood the matter about time travel, though she tried not to think about such a concept. "But remember to have her drink much water."

"Right," said Shino, passing the calm child to her mother. "And don't let her miss meals."

"A-All right, then. Thank you, Lady Kaede. Miss—"

"Shino."

"Miss Shino. Thank you." The woman bowed, picked up her daughter, and exited the hut.

"Was that woman from the neighboring village?" asked Shino. "I've never seen her around yours."

"Yes. They come to ask for help here, knowing Kikyo once grew the same medicinal herbs in the case of such illnesses."

"I see," said Shino. It would have been an honor to meet the woman, and interesting if she indeed shared Kagome's soul, but it would be too rude to express that to Kaede. Who knew if the priestess received more praise for herself or her sister? Shino could understand the pressure of living up to expectations, but even if she attempted to commiserate, something in the way Kaede held herself said the woman would never admit to such self-doubt.

"Hmm. Where did ye learn such a method?" asked Kaede, referring to the sponge bath Shino had recommended. "Are ye certain ye were not at least a trained herbalist? A wet nurse, perhaps? You seem to work well with children."

"Oh, no," Shino vigorously shook her head, face warming at the suggestion. "Really, it's a well-known method from my time. It's nothing. Your herbs and ways are much more interesting."

Seeing that Kaede was finished attending to Lady Kikyo's reincarnation, more villagers came in with patients for her. The next one had allergies all over, bloating up in the arms and the face. Those in this time had not the term for it, but Kaede knew its remedy, both herbs and a method for getting rid of them more quickly. Shino learned much from her time spent with the old priestess, and her admiration grew exponentially despite Inuyasha's repeated disrespect for her. Then again, he didn't respect anybody.

Their immune systems here were awful. She didn't have the heart to tell them that there wasn't going to be a cure for the common cold soon, either. Later, they left the hut for a prepubescent girl who was so heavy she couldn't be moved from her bed by the village's strongest men. That she was small and looked easy enough to carry even as dead weight made Kaede wary to enter her home.

"Collapsed without warning, did she?" asked the old priestess.

The girl's mother nodded. "Aye. Though she seemed just fine this morning…"

Kaede took one step into the house and froze, palm lightly pressed on Shino's stomach in an order to halt. With a pensive frown, her eyes searched the house, a one-room hut like most in the village. Shino herself saw nothing but a poor family, clothes and cooking utensils collected in one corner of the house and sleeping cots in another.

But Kaede's caution was always warranted, Shino would learn – the girl floated into the air without warning, blanket flipped off, arms spread to a T, eyes still closed. Shino found it much more frightening than the thought of a demon, especially since a santoku knife lying around had flown right into the girl's hands.

"It looks like hair," said Kaede, good eye trained on the girl's free hand. Shino followed her gaze. Squinting, she thought she saw shining bits of fine black string.

"_It_ looks bad," replied Shino, who squeezed her older companion's shoulder in a panic. "Kaede, the shard!"

Justifying to herself that basic survival couldn't possibly be too great a source of greed, Kaede surrendered it swiftly to Shino amidst the screams of the mother. Knife first, the girl hurtled towards them.

Shino caught her wrist and felt the hair Kaede had mentioned. The girl was a puppet—whose? Whoever it was possessed a strong grip on her, for even with it bound, her wrist moved the knife up and down, feebly threatening to cut off Shino's fingers. Holding her off with the hand containing the jewel shard, Shino pried the knife from the girl, who remained unconscious.

"This is no use!" Shino backed into Kaede, watching a plate in the house break to the side. One of its sharper fragments became the girl's new weapon of choice. "We have to escape!"

"But my daughter—"

Shino heaved the woman over her shoulder and shoved Kaede out the door, forgetting that they only had flaps in this time. The girl followed suit and hurled the plate shard at her mother, only to miss and embed it into Shino's back. The teenager dropped the woman next to Kaede and yelped.

"Ow!" Shino reached over and pried it off. Her skin was healing, but barely. It was still an open wound. "Kaede, miss, get up! We have to…go," Shino trailed off. Her fingers nearly dropped the santoku knife on her foot at the vision of the other village girls floating in the air, sickles and other harmful objects in their hands, all drifting in one direction. Kagome was her first thought.

"Go, Shino," said Kaede, on her feet, pushing her in the direction of the forest.

"What?" Shino looked around. She felt braver even with just a jewel shard. "But these girls, and you, Kaede—"

"Find Inuyasha and Kagome," replied Kaede, urging their other companion to rise. "Warn them not to return to the village! Hurry! Keep safe the shards!"

Nodding at the finality in the old priestess' voice, Shino broke into a sprint. She returned to the river as fast as she could, losing her breath slightly, but Inuyasha and Kagome were gone. If they left and hadn't returned to the village—they might be at the well.

At least, Kagome would. And there she was, leaning over it! With a scantily clad woman standing in the air above her, and strings – hair, like Kaede said – she could see better with the jewel strung from all over, a taut, three-dimensional web. The woman, a red ribbon in her short ebony hair, smiled wickedly down at Kagome.

"You naughty, naughty girl! You shattered the jewel!" cried the woman, their other shard pinched between her fingers. "Where's the rest?" she demanded, "Or I shall be cross."

"You give that back! I don't know where the _rest _is," said Kagome, head turning in Shino's direction briefly, almost instinctively. But Shino was certain the bushes hid her. It must have been her friend's sense of the shard that led her glance there.

The woman was the puppeteer. Shino saw the strands of hair shining in her fingers as she sighed. "Well. Then I may as well finish you!"

The woman drew a katana from the air and it was then Shino knew to move. Leaping into the air and cutting through the strands with the santoku knife she'd borrowed, Shino tackled the puppeteer. She dropped the knife and yanked at what she supposed was the woman's vanity – her hair.

"Ouch!" cried the demoness, known as Yura of the Hair. "How dare you! Who are you?"

Shino sank her fingers into her bangs and pulled at her scalp, using the wrist of her occupied hand to keep herself aloft. Yura screamed to be let go, Kagome screamed and reached for Yura's foot, hoping to help by taking her down and taking back the other shard, and Shino screamed when Yura knocked her head back into her nose. Fumbling to keep the shard in her fist, Shino let go of the demoness and inadvertently pulled Kagome with her into the well.

The sensation of falling disappeared as soon as Shino's eyes met the darkness. There was the weightlessness again, and the different positions of being and sensing which she now understood as the process of time travel. When the pressure on her chest lifted, Shino wrinkled her nose at the stench of old, trapped air and found Kagome's stomach under her calves.

"Are you all right, Kagome? Kagome?" Shino shook Kagome's shoulders, tapping her cheek lightly.

The girl opened her eyes and leaned into Shino's arms when she pulled her upright. "Where are we…?"

"At the well," answered her friend, steadying Kagome when she gasped at the sight of Mistress Centipede's bones. It was difficult to believe that demoness had begun it all three days ago, though it felt much longer.

"Who was that woman?" Kagome groaned, sitting upright on her own.

"A demoness, I guess. She attacked the village and headed for you. Must have thought you had the full jewel," said Shino, the realization coming only then. Vain though she was, the puppeteer was smart. She had meant to divide and conquer, to distract the villagers by controlling the women and searching for the sacred jewel using her puppets. News about it certainly spread quickly. "I can't believe how much trouble it's caused."

"One tiny thing," agreed Kagome. Shino looked wistfully at the shard in her hand, though she didn't doubt the demoness would have killed Kagome even if she did surrender both shards. And where in the world had Inuyasha been? Not that it mattered now; Shino was certain of her theory and knew they were back in their own time. A shuffling in the sudden darkness above them reassured her of it.

"But we've already been in here a dozen times," whined an old man.

"But grandpa," a young boy pleaded, "I keep telling you! This is where they fell!"

Kagome gasped, squeezing Shino's arm. The girl only nodded in resignation.

"But are you sure you weren't dreaming?" asked the old man.

The boy sounded very frustrated. "I wasn't!"

The flashlight Shino had searched for days ago now blinded their vision. Beside the man holding it – Grandpa Higurashi – she could vaguely make out Souta's smaller figure. Well, she thought, it was as good a time as any to face the music.

"G-Grandpa?" called Kagome, voice shaking. "Souta?"

* * *

Kagome was calm when they climbed out of the well, explaining all that had happened to her and Shino, however briefly. Mrs. Higurashi was out searching and so wasn't there to welcome her daughter home, but the two were more than relieved to see them alive and well. After receiving Grandpa Higurashi's promise that he would tell no one she had been at their house, Shino bade the family goodbye, agreeing with Souta that she had to get home very soon, and wasn't too far from the shrine yet to be out of earshot when she heard Kagome break into tears.

Shino walked slowly so as not to be noticed, but briskly so that she would reach her bicycle before nightfall. She had deposited it at the bike rack of Souta's school, which was close enough to the shrine to walk to but out of the way from her home enough not to cast suspicion on the Higurashi family. She had four spots like these, one for each of her friends' houses, and not even they knew about it. Shino was rather proud of them, but at the moment her shoulders remained slumped. The bicycle would have to remain here, she realized, or they would eventually discover that she had indeed snuck out early the morning of Kagome's birthday.

No reason would be enough for her parents, much less that man. She would be grounded for life—or, even worse, she would have tight security detail forever. But she had to come up with something if he was to ever let her out of sight of bodyguards again, a privilege she had only just gained in junior high school. And they had to, because Kaede was still in the village with that hair-wielding demoness! The panic returned to her in waves. She was relieved to be out of danger and at the same time rearing to return to it.

Kaede couldn't die. It wasn't as though she was an important historical figure, either, so Shino wouldn't even be able to check the records for anything about the priestess. And there was still the present to worry about.

Shino walked through the streets of Tokyo slowly until she reached one of the gates surrounding her home. Through the more public Tayasu gate, not the private Hanzo. There was no point in making a grand entrance, since they were surely watching the gate closer to their home; and anyway, she had never liked those, with everyone watching her not for her own merit but her father's position.

She stared straight at the gate, waiting for one of the guards behind the cameras to notice her. A cold wind attempted to wrap itself around her as the door creaked, the latch unhinging, but her nerves gave her all the warmth she needed to ward it off. And then cold sweat.

"Visiting hours are over," said the guard, lifting an eyebrow at her. "Please return in—"

Shino flipped back her bangs and put on her most average smile, revealing her face. Now that she was here, there was nothing she wanted to do but turn back. "Good evening."

The guard dropped his light, immediately bowing. "Y-Your Imperial Highness!"


	3. The Earnest Princess

**Feet First**

**Chapter 3: The Earnest Princess**

Shino dove for the flashlight and swiftly handed it to the guard. "Shh, please…" No one had heard the commotion. "Let's get inside."

The gate hurriedly closed behind her. "Princess Naru, where have you been?" asked the guard. That was her title—Naru_-no-miya_, though she was better known as Shino. The other guard yelped as they entered, but imitated Shino's gesture of her index finger over her lips and was silenced, posture stiff. "Surely you know…"

"I know, I know," Shino nodded reluctantly. "Please don't tell him…"

"But princess," the guard pleaded. "If he hears from anyone else…!"

"I know. He'll tan your hides."

The guards blinked at her casual language. "P-Princess Naru?"

"…Forgive me." She'd grown so accustomed to speaking as she wished with everyone the past three days that she forgot how to speak in this environment. But her mother had taught her to treat the formal speech like a veil over the years, and just as quickly as she lost it, Shino threw it back on. "I'm still dizzy. Tell him, but once I've turned the corner and you can no longer see me in the gardens. Please?"

They exchanged hopeless glances and nodded. "Thank you," she said gratefully, then darted past the arts hall, across the gardens and found the Fukiage Palace. The halls were empty and silent, as always, but warm and familiar. It was home, after all, to the Japanese Imperial family. At this time they would all be in their own rooms, but she crept into Tomohito's and found it empty and disheveled, wholly unlike him. She wasn't surprised that Tomoyo's was locked.

Shino moved past the creaking floorboards and blinked when she found them eating in the dining room. Together, but separately, silently, all busy in their own minds, no doubt. She saw the worry she caused them in the dark bags under their eyes – even Tomoyo's – and wanted to escape that guilt, but she'd promised to face it when she left the Higurashi shrine. That much she owed her family, at least, though Shino was determined not to tell them the truth of what happened.

Tilting on one heel, she knocked against the wall. "Hello."

The clang of silverware rang long after her brother spoke. "Shino?"

Her mother took one glance and burst into tears. Tomohito was instantly at her side, picking her up and squeezing her like they thought they would never see her again. In many ways, Shino had wondered the same. "Where have you been?" he demanded, grasping her shoulders when he set her down before Tomoyo and her parents.

Shino didn't understand why Kagome had cried; at least not until then. That longing for something normal, no matter if she had liked the freedom. She wanted to break down from the realization that she was back home, that she saw her family again even when that Centipede woman had bitten off the better part of her shoulder or that puppet-girl threw a plate shard into her back that could have killed her nervous system for all she knew. It was still a little painful. For the sake of her story, however, she blinked away her relief.

"I'm sorry," she said, eyes downcast. Her excuses died on her lips. "I'm…sorry."

"That's all you have to say?" snapped Tomoyo. "Where were you? What happened?"

Shino hadn't expected that from her sister. Calm, collected, cold Tomoyo worried? "That isn't it. I didn't know I'd disappeared for so long."

She met her father's firm gaze, but it was the Emperor who broke it with a tight embrace. His scent overcame her senses and out of nowhere she could stand again, truly upright, her hunger and fatigue gone. In fact she felt fully sated, like she was full and she could give all her weight to the back rest, only it was her father and he faltered as she began to fall into his arms completely.

"Are you all right?" he asked. Shino had forgotten how much comfort the sight of his beard gave her. He'd been the only one in the Imperial family to sport one in his time, and even at present. It was his mark in which she took solace. "Who took you? Who hurt you?" he touched the big rip in the shoulder of her blouse where Mistress Centipede had bitten. Another reason why the guards had looked about ready to faint. Her father gasped when he felt the dry blood on the back of her clothes.

"What is this!?"

Shino cringed, shrugging his hand off the wound. "I don't know," she answered, "it was there when I woke up."

"We'll have it checked immediately," said the Emperor, grimacing at the sight of it. "I was so afraid, blossom. And," he whispered, eyeing his wife, "so was your mother. Especially she."

The Empress had calmed to a point by the time Shino ran into her arms. Her mother's face bore the most questions – that was clear to her, for some reason – but there was no time for it. The person who truly grounded her to that reality, that time, had finally entered the room, interrupting her apologies. A middle-aged man in a suit with a perpetually austere demeanor bowed low before them. All pretensions.

"Princess Shino," he said, after greeting the Emperor, his wife and older children. The family visibly straightened in his presence, all dignified despite their apparent worry. They had their veils on, too. "May I have a word?"

* * *

The Imperial Household Agency was the office of government that 'handled affairs concerning the Imperial family;' if the phrase meant controlling every aspect of the Imperial family's life. She had met some in the agency who were secretly lenient to her as a child, but as she grew into her teenage years and the Prime Minister appointed Isamu Shimoto as the new Grand Steward, who was responsible for heading the IHA, they were weeded out. Shino felt more cloistered than ever.

Despite his position as the eldest of his siblings, Shino's father had younger brothers who married much earlier than he did, so his daughters enjoyed the company and advice of older female cousins whose lives were, while less restricted, still managed by the IHA up until they married 'commoners' and were stripped of royal rank. Shino had already resigned herself to such a fate. She knew many of her distant relatives close to her age and, while on generally friendly terms, had never been attracted to any of them, nor they to her. As far as she could tell, the same went for Tomohito and Tomoyo.

At any rate, marriage was the farthest thing from her mind. The point was that the Grand Steward drove everyone mad. It was a wonder her mother didn't have a breakdown when she first joined the Imperial family. Although brought up by a wealthy businessman and a mother who came from an equally affluent family, she gave up her freedom for the Crown Prince and agreed to walk steps behind him at all times. Shino didn't think she could do something as ridiculous as that. Especially not now that she had gotten a taste of true independence.

Shino knew he was only doing his job, but at times she felt as if Shimoto derived a sick pleasure from enforcing the patriarchal rules of tradition on their family. Frankly, some of them were already preposterous. Walking behind her husband had been a natural concept to her until her own mother secretly told her of more liberal, foreign ideas. Though it seemed mother hadn't shared them with Tomoyo, prim and proper and the most submissive princess to have ever lived, the reason why the Grand Steward hated Shino. She was a flailing mess of failure in comparison with her sister.

In fact, he threw the biggest fit when he found out the Emperor had decided to allow Shino to enter a public school. It was done as a response to those slamming the current state of public schools in the country. Instead of sending his youngest daughter to the Peers' School all those from the Imperial family had attended, the Emperor announced that he would send Shino to a public school somewhere else within Tokyo, where he assured that she would still have the same quality of education.

It was so scandalized and greatly commended by international critics that the IHA was stuck between the choice of calling its own Emperor insane or revealing just how powerless he was in the face of the commoners in the office. Of course, the point was that the Emperor _was_ powerless—but a certain degree of respect for the Imperial family was still expected of the government, since the Emperor was supposed to be a symbol of the state and the unity of the people. The Grand Steward made known his displeasure at such a thing for months after and Shino just knew he thought her the black sheep of the Imperial family if there ever was one for actually enjoying her public education.

After having her knife wound properly cleaned and allowing her to change into proper garments, he gave her a stern talking-to about the past three days. Most likely the press discovered the panic brewing behind the walls and gardens of the Imperial palace if the Grand Steward had sent people to grill the school and her friends' families for information – Souta informed her as much – because he was ranting in that severe manner of his about how the press had gone crazy over speculation as to her whereabouts to the point that they no longer listened to him.

"I am not surprised they wouldn't, Grand Steward. They know you're a tyrant," Shino wished to say, but bit her tongue. Her mind drifted to Inuyasha. _Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer_! On the Grand Steward? She almost giggled. But she could never do that. Maybe just box him, if only that was ladylike. Shino liked boxing the most out of all their activities.

Regret filled her to the brim for allowing her family to worry about her as she'd seen they had, possibly even worse. But now Shino remembered the reason behind her attempt at preventing Kagome from leaving the Feudal Era. There – or was _then_ the correct way to say it? – she was left to her own devices, yes, but also to make her own decisions, to speak as candidly and casually as she wished and to help villagers who very quickly grew accustomed to her help without making a big deal about it. At least, without deferring to this man.

It was tempting to lift her elbow and lean her temple against her fist, but Shino kept her hands on her lap and stared up at the Grand Steward, who finished with, "And I want your reassurance that this will never happen again. Are we clear, Princess Naru?"

Shino withheld a sigh. Tomohito said it irritated him the most, so she simply nodded. "Yes, Grand Steward. May I please see my family now?"

Shaking his head reprovingly, the Grand Steward flicked his wrist at the door. Shino was certain that was a highly disrespectful _yes_, but as the Imperial family deferred to the Prime Minister ever since, there was nothing she could do about it. Anyway, she was just a little girl to him.

* * *

The main branch of the Imperial family was in their parents' room. Father and mother sat together on the bed, and Tomoyo hovered close to them by ancient-looking couches. Well, not really ancient. The designs only made them look so to preserve the air of authenticity that pervaded the Fukiage Palace.

"Sit down," said Tomohito, guiding her by the wrist inside their room. He had known she would come to his room first, and brought her to their parents' once she tried to hide in his.

Their parents anticipated the arrival and pat the space between them. Shino took it and remembered word-for-word what she had told the Grand Steward just in case they pressed again. "What is it?"

"You can tell us the truth," said her brother. "What happened out there?"

"Your school blouse was torn," her mother whispered, as though unable to believe her survival. "Someone attempted to wash it out, but there was still blood on the sleeves. And that awful back wound of yours—the doctor said it seemed as though you'd sustained it for more than three days given its progression…"

Father wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Did anyone hurt you, Shino?" he asked tightly. "You must tell us. Do not be ashamed."

"No, I promise," she answered, shaking her head honestly, since her shoulder being greatly 'damaged' was not the kind of hurt on their minds. "I woke up in a forest far beyond the city. I returned to Tokyo without trouble, and I came home. On my way I…saw how much time had passed…and I knew at once your worry and the Grand Steward's anger. But I don't think I was hurt. I wasn't touched in any way."

Appearing to breathe easily for the first time, the Emperor gave way to his wife, who kissed their youngest's forehead and rested her chin on Shino's hair. She'd done it many times to comfort her children, but now it was questionable as to whose benefit the action was for. "Were you not tired, darling?"

"…I was very tired when I awoke. But I feel much better now that I'm home."

"I've heard of these things," Tomohito clasped his hands together, leaning forward on his elbows. Unlike his room, his hair was naturally mussed, and that it was tidy now could only be a bad sign. He cared for his hair only whenever he was worried about something. "Where encounters are so traumatizing that the victims cover them up subconsciously to forget. Shino…"

"I don't know… But I am confused." It would be bad, and time-consuming, if they tried to 'retrieve' her memories. This line of thought needed to go, and quickly. "I think I'll turn in for the night."

"You should stay at home for the next few days. Rest," said the Empress, planting more kisses on her daughter's hair. Sharing a nod with his wife, the Emperor agreed.

"After the press conference tomorrow, proving your return from a mere illness…that this was all a misunderstanding and exaggeration by the press," said father, "you will remain at home for a few days. Recuperate from this ordeal."

Shino returned to her room after bidding them goodnight and sharing embraces tighter than she ever remembered, save for her first day in public school. Although he had made the statement that got her there, her father was more worried than anyone else, even mother.

Taking a cellphone from the shelf hidden below the bathroom sink, Shino dialed Kagome's house. Tomohito encouraged her to save enough allowance to buy the thing, and more than ever she was glad of the decision to do so. The other time seemed just as far away as this had, too, when she was there. On second thought, time travel seemed absolutely crazy. But the shard in her hand proved otherwise.

Kagome never took it from her due to Souta's arrival and so Shino had kept it. Her improved strength was still there, and it had taken a great deal of control not to appease the voice screaming from her free fist to knock out the Grand Steward. Shino laughed to think that this was Inuyasha speaking. She had never once thought she could take on Shimoto in battle, much less a fistfight—until she had met him and the jewel thanks to Kagome. The half-demon represented that other time so well.

"Hello?"

"Souta," Shino was so glad to hear his voice. Already she felt closer to the other time, knowing how far the boy was from her own life.

"Hi Shino," he said, calm amidst the crashing noise of voices in the background. "Did you want to talk to Kagome? Because she's—"

"Yes, please, thank you, Souta."

"O-Okay." His voice was distant as he yelled, "Kagome! It's Shino!"

Something far away sounded a lot like, "Thing is in that little handle?"

Shino blinked. Was that—?

"Hi, Shino," Kagome caught the phone breathlessly.

"Kagome? What's…?"

"Shino, you have to come—I think the demoness is here," she replied, now very obviously anxious to end their conversation, whether or not Shino agreed to her wishes. "Yura of the Hair."

"What? How do you know her name?"

"Inuyasha's in my house!"

Shino blinked. The decision was suddenly easy. "…I'm on my way."

"Thanks!"

Kagome left the phone hanging, and Shino heard a little more panicking in the background – Grandpa Higurashi in particular barking out orders while Mrs. Higurashi attempted to calm them all down – before Shino ended the call herself. Dressing into a comfortable shirt and jeans, she stepped out of her bathroom.

She came face-to-face with Tomoyo, whose face was back to its natural, blank state. "You're lying."

Looking back on the meeting in their parents' chambers, Tomoyo had only watched as Tomohito tried to get the truth out of her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I didn't tell anyone I knew you left that day, Shino," said Tomoyo, crossing her arms as she took a seat on the bed.

Tomoyo was a decade her senior, but they were still sisters. And she was taller than her, anyhow. "Not for my benefit!"

"Is it really that hard for you to trust me on anything?"

Shino scoffed, standing akimbo. "The way you trust me with _all_ your secrets?"

Tomoyo looked away, her tone of voice softening. Another first for her. While Tomoyo was exactly what the IHA wanted her to be, she had always held some aversion to Shino that her younger sister never understood. "There's nothing to tell, Shino. If I had as much gall as you to lie and sneak around, don't you think I would?"

The glaring lasted only a few seconds before Shino groaned. She was the most devoted liar in the house, but Tomoyo was the most persuasive. "Fine," she mumbled, plopping down on her soft mattress. She missed that the most next to her family. And good food. "But if you tell anyone else…" There was no concrete threat in her mind. She could never hurt Tomoyo, and her sister's entire life had been an empty slate turned into a masterpiece by the IHA. "Never mind. It isn't as though they would believe you. Or you, me."

Tomoyo sat down beside her, crossing her legs over the blanket. "Try me."

* * *

For her story – granted, it only lasted five minutes as Shino was in a hurry, but she had been hopeful – Tomoyo rewarded her with another blank stare. "Tomohito got to you when we were children, didn't he? And you never grew out of it."

Shino groaned and fell back on her bed. "I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"Well, help me out here." Tomoyo threw her long hair over her shoulder. "Time travel? It couldn't be a kidnapping where you got Stockholm of some sort and refused to turn in your kidnappers, one of whom you'd fallen for? Centipede demons," she breathed helplessly. "I can't—ahhh!"

Shino dropped her older sister on the bed. Tomoyo clamped a hand over her own mouth, wide eyes darting to the door.

Tomohito burst into the room with their father. "What happened?"

"Shino's a liar!" gasped Tomoyo, uncovering her lips. Shino watched, slack-jawed, as her sister continued, "She said she was tired, but she seemed fine enough to attack me with a pillow!"

The Emperor smiled pleasantly and disappeared down the hall while Tomohito squinted at them suspiciously. "Right. Why are you two together?"

"Is it wrong for two sisters to talk?" Shino asked stiffly.

"Or for one to attack the other with pillows," grumbled Tomoyo.

"Hrm," was Tomohito's suspicious reply, then he grinned and closed the door.

Shino sighed in relief. "For a second—"

"Scared you, did I?" Tomoyo slapped Shino in the arm. "I told you to trust me. What was _that_?"

Shino was still shaking off her nerves. She had as much right to be shocked about her sister's sudden friendliness as Tomoyo did about her ability to lift her off the ground with just her arms and a few grunts. "An ability I gained. In the past. Do you believe me now?"

"If you're certain it wasn't actually an experiment of some kind," Tomoyo trailed off.

"Trust me, I have gone over a million theories. I swear it's the truth. And—" Shino went for the katana hanging over her headrest. It had been there for as long as she could remember; she never knew it could come in handy. "I have to go."

"I hope you're kidding. The Grand Steward is going to have a heart attack."

"Let him," muttered Shino. "I've got to return to my friends there. Please. Cover for me, won't you?"

Tomoyo gnawed on her lower lip. "…I always dreamed of going to another world when I was your age. Especially when…" Shino urged her sister to go on with a nod, but she never finished the sentence. Figured that she wouldn't learn anything on the get-go from Tomoyo. "But now it's you, and I'm the one given the choice to help her little sister save the other world or not…"

Shino blinked. "I never imagined you would think about those things. You always…scoffed at Tomohito when we talked about them. Fantasy."

"…I was young once, too, you know."

"Oh." Shino still couldn't comprehend. Wait, why was she the one offering sympathy? It was surprising enough that her sister actually used to read fantasy novels, much less believe in her living one. Plus Tomoyo was only twenty-five! She was acting like she was a grandmother. Which wasn't too far from the usual, but—

"So what are you waiting for?" Tomoyo reached over and shoved Shino towards the window. "Go on. I expect a full report when you get back – and you had better be back by the press conference tomorrow."

Still, Shino couldn't help but grin. "I'll try."

Katana in hand, she leapt out the window – not very high compared to past experiences with the full jewel – and landed on the ground rolling. The shard went inside her mouth because she needed a free hand to propel herself over the higher walls protecting her family from the outside world, and somehow it was better that way—like her body absorbed its powers better.

Exhaustion was gaining on her when she arrived at the Higurashi property, but only until she saw Kagome's family worriedly poised outside the well shrine. Souta heard her bounding up the steps and met her halfway. "They—They went inside!" he stammered, "There was hair and yelling and—!"

"I'm goenen," said Shino, squeezing his shoulder and covering her mouth. The shard was difficult to keep inside without it cutting her cheek when she spoke, only for the insides to slowly heal because of the shard itself. She couldn't show them she had kept it and so her diction suffered. Souta gave her a look of half-admiration and half-pity, all confusion, but was distracted when Grandpa Higurashi roared determinedly. Something about creating more powerful wards in case 'it' came back to their time.

"Shino, wait!" called Mrs. Higurashi. "What if they…?"

"I wazhn't here. And I promisth I didn't leave a thrail."

Inside, Shino nearly slipped on piles of silky hair which led her down the well and out into the past. She would have gone back to the village, for many trails of hair tied around the trees flowed there, but more had been shorn deep into the forest. Following the second batch, she muttered in apology to Kaede for coming so late, and mostly to Kagome's aid. Shino felt so guilty that she could hear the old woman's voice resound in the forest. Although, it was less resounding than something like a weak grunting, and not as much all around her than it was from the ground.

Shino stepped out of the hair's trail to try for whence she heard Kaede's haunting voice and found a mound of soil with her head on it. "Forget ye differences for now," said the mouth, "and be as one!"

"_Kaede_?"

The face looked genuine enough. The patch on the right eye, the wrinkled forehead and cheeks, the narrowing distance between the eyes and brows, and that dour expression – spot on! How interesting. Perhaps this Yura had actually made models and replaced the real villagers? But why do such a thing when she could control them with her strands?

"Shino, if ye would cease the jabbing."

"Kaede," Shino blinked, withdrawing her hand from the old woman's face. "Wha're you doenere?"

It was Kaede's turn for bewilderment. "Pardon me?" Shino removed the shard from her mouth. The priestess gaped. "You kept it?"

"For the better, it seems," she reasoned. "Otherwise, Yura would have gotten her hair on both shards. Look, what are you doing here? Are you all right?" she paused. "You are the real Kaede, aren't you?"

Kaede did not grace the question with an answer. "Shino…"

"Right." The jewel would have to remain in her mouth after this. Shino grabbed fistfuls of dirt and dumped them back in the ditch apparently Inuyasha had dug out to protect the old woman. She would ponder on how kind the half-dog truly was if not for the brown patch of dried blood on Kaede's shoulder.

"Flesh wound," Kaede dismissed, nodding gratefully when Shino helped her to a tree. "Ye must find Kagome and Inuyasha. Ye have the power to aid them with yon jewel."

It was all too easy to find the two. Wasted tree trunks cut clean from their stumps lay scattered along the trail to the demoness, whose hair had cleared out an entire portion of the forest. In its place at the bottom of the valley was a web not unlike that which she had earlier crafted before the well, but each thread was now a collection of at least three heads of endless black stretching from every direction to another.

Only one was exactly vertical to the ground; must have been made of more than fifty heads, and as Shino came closer, she found she was right, in a manner of speaking.

Skulls were strung on the great bulk of hair like beads. Something red squirmed near the surface, trapped in shackles of fiber, and screamed – Kagome! Inuyasha hung in the air as well, so it was time to move. Running into the clearing of bones, Shino shouted,

"I hearld thell of a demoneth—" she groaned and spat the jewel fragment into her hand. "I heard tell of a demoness looking for a shard!"

"Shino!" Kagome choked in unison with Inuyasha's, "Thing!"

"I'm sorry I'm late. My family was a little less receptive to my disappearance, but—"

"Shut up!" Yura snapped. "I thought you were dead."

Shino felt daring and jumped across the hair clumps. She had no power over hair, but a sacred jewel put her on Inuyasha's level of physical strength. A shard would have to do well enough with this woman, even if said demoness had possession of her own. She attempted to cut through the hair with her ancient katana – only for it to break under the strength of the jewel-enhanced strands. By the time she reached Yura's level in the air, only the hilt was left in her hand.

"What kind of weapon is _that_?" moaned Inuyasha.

"An ornament," grumbled Shino, slightly embarrassed, but threw the hilt and sheathe behind her. Yura burst into derisive giggles.

"How stupid. Now give me the shard!" She threw her hand forward and hair came forth, whipping at Shino, who dodged and landed on a lower thread. She tossed the shard back inside her mouth and squirmed slightly. Her fingers had already been tainted with soil.

"How unhygienic!" cried Yura, "Give it to me!"

"Thith time reekth ob unhygienic. Come 'ere!" Despite the taunt, it was Shino who vaulted to the demoness, wrestling with her as she hung from the finer threads on her wrist. A fist connected with Yura's face, knee met her stomach, and fingers choked at her neck.

Yura persisted. As soon as she was free, a strand constricted Shino's neck with an easy motion of her hand. Shino held her breath and, distractedly noting the large patch of blood directly between Yura's cleavage that wasn't a product of her own violence, managed enough presence of mind to reach for the hair behind Yura's ears. The demoness screamed in frustration and curled two fingers, drawing blood from the neck. Shino intended to kill this woman, if she could only breathe—

Inuyasha had taken advantage of Yura's preoccupation and broke free once more of the batch holding him down. "Blades of blood!" he bellowed, drawing red from a wound on his shoulder. The attack was meant for Kagome's binds and did their job, cutting her loose.

At the same time, Shino kept her grip on Yura though her vision was turning purple and black, tugging hard enough to elicit a furious cry. The great trunk of hair and skulls lost their shape and fell slack, freeing Kagome; Shino's neck bind relaxed as both lost their footing on the thread and landed into a small hill of skulls. Shino managed to regain her composure on the way down and prepared for battle once they touched ground, again determined to choke her in some way, while Yura attempted to pry her mouth open and grab the shard.

Why wouldn't she die? Shino wondered, peering into her chest wound, lips pressed painfully shut. It could have been more appropriate to just call the thing a hole, for the gore was that great. No amount of damage would kill this woman, and Yura had taken quite a beating.

The demoness screamed in frustration. "You filthy human!" She flung her arm at Shino. Fibers wrapped all around the girl's stomach, holding her taut in the air. Shino didn't doubt they could cut her into pieces; at the moment they were already cutting her sides slowly, like fine knives. As if she had read her mind, Yura laughed. "Don't forget: I'm immortal!"

"Shino!" Kagome gasped momentarily before turning her attention back to the ground, throwing piles of skulls back as she searched diligently. "Inuyasha, do something!"

Inuyasha bounded for Shino as Kagome raised a red skull in the air and shouted, "I found it! These hairs are connected to her hand!"

Shino cringed. It felt as if there were little paper cuts all over her sides, but the demoness had it worse. They didn't know it, but her very core was literally being shattered.

"Stop it!" Yura hissed at Kagome, who was busy digging an arrow into the demon's power source. She raised a katana in the air using a free strand and sent it hurtling towards the girl. "I'll kill you!"

"Kagome!" Shino pulled at the strings on her arms and reached for Yura, clawed at her, eyes focused on the katana whose path didn't waver. Inuyasha was heading in its trajectory almost as if to—

"I did it!" Kagome was barely able to exclaim when a bright light shone from the skull, blowing everything back in a powerful exhale. It broke into as many pieces as Yura, who disintegrated into ash. Coughing as it went in her nose, Shino fell face first into the pile and rolled down the hill until Inuyasha caught her. Silently, he carried her over to Kagome, who was still fatigued from hanging from hair. It didn't slip the injured Shino's notice that she was wearing Inuyasha's haori.

The three of them stared at each other expectantly, unsurely, like shy friends on their first day of school, before Shino smiled. "Well, she's dead."

Kagome was still shaking, but let out a short burst of disbelieving laughter upon catching her friend's sheepish grin. "I can honestly say I didn't think I'd be the one to get her."

"Don't flatter yourself," Inuyasha mumbled. Nevertheless, the relief was clear on his face. When the two looked at him skeptically, he rolled his eyes. "Not bad, Thing."

Shino shrugged. "You did good, Half-demon." Better, in fact, than she expected. Was she hallucinating or had he really jumped in the katana's way for Kagome? Granted, he wouldn't have sustained as bad an injury as a human would, but a quick act like that from Inuyasha seemed like it would have been based on instinct, and Shino didn't quite admire him as a creature of intellect than raw power.

"Stop looking at me like that," grunted Inuyasha, making a face at her thoughtful countenance. "Now, spit it out."

Shino lowered the shard into her hand and wiped it on her shirt, yelping as she hit a wound. She almost forgot about the cuts, gentle as Inuyasha had been in his handling of her. He really was a curious thing, and maybe possessed more of his human half than she or anyone had given him credit for. "I'm sorry, Kagome. I didn't mean to take it."

"It's fine," Kagome had already forgotten it. She couldn't be angry with the one whose experience of this world she shared in; not that she ever was to begin with. Kagome didn't understand the concept of grasping power in its raw form and so couldn't attach a lust for it to Shino in her mind. Besides, at every turn, Shino had only ever taken the shard to protect her. "But how did you get out of the palace? I can only imagine…"

Shino wished she hadn't given the reminder. "The Grand Steward hates me now. At least, more than ever. But you two are worth it, I guess."

Kagome couldn't help but embrace her friend. "Oh, sorry!" she had hugged too tightly around the waist. Blood seeped out of her shirt.

"What are you talking about, Thing?" whined Inuyasha. He picked her up again, muttering about Shino's helplessness, but his manner was dutiful. "Kagome, let's go already…what?"

"…You never said my name before," explained Kagome, her tone slightly dreamy, if Shino thought so herself.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"It's just that I think you like me more now, is all. Shino, too." Kagome smiled softly.

"Tch," Inuyasha turned away with a grunt. "Don't get excited. I still think you're pretty useless."

"Hey! Remind me not to save you next time!" Kagome shoved him forward.

"Battle scars," Shino reminded them, twitching. Kagome rushed to her in apology.

"Don't be such a baby," reprimanded Inuyasha, who glanced over at Kagome. "What's that in your hand?"

"The comb in the red skull," she answered, fight forgotten.

"Oh, so that was Yura's true form…"

Somehow, Inuyasha's calm explanation of evil spirits coming to power in combs of the dead turned into another fight, not that Shino noticed or cared quite so much. He still addressed them in an uncouth manner, but seemed to have softened towards Kagome. That meant something, didn't it? That he wasn't completely selfish? And now, Kagome accepted her part as the protector of the sacred jewel, bound by the quest to find all of its fragments… It gave Shino hope.

Now all she had to do was replace her bedroom katana with Yura's blade.

Oh! And find Kaede.

* * *

Kaede was in no imminent danger save for the ants that were beginning to form a line to start nibbling on her. The villagers were rescued, too, and nobody was harmed. As it turned out, they were so reluctant to harm their daughters that Yura resorted to stringing them along as well, and Inuyasha and Kaede had been the only villagers left. Shino wanted to stay and help carry the wasted lumber from their battlefield to the village, but she was under pressure from Tomoyo's words and the press conference the next day.

It was to be her first, since she had only ever been filmed walking obediently behind her father. As much as she looked down upon the expectations of deference and humility in the females of the Imperial family, Shino was still afraid of the nation's disappointment and it would reflect terribly upon her father should she botch the conference. The Grand Steward had said so himself, though she didn't need him to. After promising Kagome and Kaede to return soon – even sharing a cordial goodbye with Inuyasha – she returned to the present.

Without the jewel, she could do nothing, only brisk walk her way home. But the manner of completion of the day's events made her feel better, even if Yura's death was still playing on repeat in her mind's eye. She had hated the woman, of course, but she still possessed life, however ill-gotten, and seemed more human than the Centipede and the Crow, making the murder feel more real. Shino knew she should be guilty about working towards any being's death, but she was only satisfied. That didn't mean she didn't have a conscience, did it?

She knew the path well enough to avoid most danger in the city and returned home. The guards were surprised that she got out at all – the panicky surprised when someone realizes the spider escaped its glass cage – but nobody wanted to risk the ire of the Grand Steward this late at night. Helplessly, they allowed her entrance, and Shino climbed her room at the Fukiage Palace, shimmying her way to the window with some difficulty. She was back to her normal capacity, but she was still fit to begin with, just like Tomoyo and Tomohito.

Tomoyo was sleeping in her bed, pretending to be her. (She slept looking like a big lump in the mattress.) It was actually a stroke of genius, since Tomoyo always locked her door, so nobody would think to check if she was lying.

Shino fluffed the extra pillows on her bed and tucked them on Tomoyo's sides because all three of them had the unfortunate habit of rolling around in their sleep and falling ungracefully off the bed. (Perhaps Tomoyo's one flaw, since she slept like a rock in the context of sound.) She could sleep in Tomohito's room. His was extra-King size because he was once larger than his two sisters combined, at least until he'd grown out of the baby fat. The bed was never replaced, and sometimes Shino slept over in his room because his had the best view of the gardens.

"You're back." As soon as she felt the pillow under her arm, Tomoyo sat up as furiously as a door swinging open. Shino dodged so as not to get hit in the arm. "How was—" Tomoyo gaped at her stomach. "What happened to you?"

"Battle. Which we won," said Shino, proudly, though her sides still stung. The shard was powerful, but only a tiny piece of the real jewel, so it had healed her just enough to protect from infection, according to Kaede. "It's fine, I've been patched up."

"I see..." Tomoyo laid back on the bed. "Then do you mind carrying me back to my room?"

Shino didn't know whether to stare or laugh. Tomoyo had never shown such frivolity to her. She laughed anyway. "I can't. I gave up that power."

It was Tomoyo who stared, bug-eyed. "_What_? The adventure is over? You took three days for the initial journey and only a few hours for the last bits?" She sighed. "How disappointing."

"It isn't over," said Shino, sitting down next to her. She wanted to be certain that Tomoyo wasn't being controlled by Yura, somehow making her say these things, talk this way, but that demon was dead and she couldn't see the hair without the shard, in any case. "The power didn't belong to me. I was only borrowing it."

"I don't understand. You'll have to explain it fully, and not that excuse for a story you gave me earlier."

"It's really late. Are you sure?"

Tomoyo pulled a face as if Shino should have already known it. "What are you doing tomorrow? You're going to have a press conference after lunch. Which means we can stay up late."

"Don't you have work?" Tomoyo was a pencil pusher in some government agency. She'd gotten a relatively high position because she truly was intelligent and the hardest worker out of their trio. According to Tomohito, she only ever missed a few days of work, but he never mentioned which those were. Shino didn't know herself.

"I'm taking care of my sister." Tomoyo raised her eyebrows multiple times. "The Grand Steward can't reject that story."

Shino inched away from her sister slightly. She guessed the expression was one meant to jibe, but it looked alien on Tomoyo. "Are you all right? I've never seen you so headstrong against the Grand Steward."

Tomoyo frowned at first. Was she affronted? "I've never met a girl who easily lift me by the arms. And I never knew it'd be my little sister," she said, wistfully, like it was a memory she had long buried. That didn't make sense. And neither did the smile she gave Shino afterward.

"Oh."

Tomoyo pat the pillow next to her. "So. Start talking."

Kagome was simply a 'friend she met long ago,' and instead of being part of the family who maintained the shrine, she was simply somebody she met while wandering around the city that morning three days before. Shino didn't reveal the method of time travel or the importance of the sacred jewel, save that a source of power that broke into pieces existed, but everything else she told her sister, from Inuyasha to the fact that she could draw power from the coveted source, and now it was up to them to find the shards.

"All over Japan?" Tomoyo deadpanned.

"You didn't see the light!" Shino insisted. "Well…maybe not across islands. But definitely around."

Tomoyo tapped her lip curiously. "And your portal always sends you to just one place? Each time? How are you going to find the other jewels if you're always going the same distance _and_ still go to school?"

Shino hadn't thought about that. She groaned and fell back against her pillow. "It's over for me, isn't it?"

Tomoyo shuffled to face her. "Are you going to let it be?"

It should have taunted her, since negative encouragement was natural from Tomoyo, but the remark sounded better as a plea in her ears. What had overcome her sister to make her act so –friendly all of a sudden? Maybe Tomoyo realized how much she loved Shino during her three-day absence? But Tomoyo wasn't sentimental like that, not like Tomohito, or the rest of their family, in fact. She had always been special to Shino in that regard, so that seeing her smile was a reward in itself.

Whatever it was, she was glad to look upon her sister's face and find some measure of enjoyment from listening to Shino talk. It had only ever been indifference or muted disdain. An hour or so passed with Tomoyo reacting exactly as Shino hoped, asking questions she happily answered about what she had so far gleaned about life in the Feudal Era.

She had come home wearily earlier, for how could she keep a secret as big as this when Kagome could share it with her own family, who accepted the truth wholeheartedly? But while Shino was not eager to leave the past after Yura's defeat, she was grateful for Tomoyo.

The sisters soon fell asleep on the bed, Shino wrapped in her blanket and Tomoyo with a pillow nearly smothering her face, as was their habit.

* * *

The camera flashes blinded Shino every time. She walked gracefully behind Tomoyo, but they had practiced walking this stretch of concrete covered in fuzzy carpeting since birth and it came innately to her, even though the lights didn't dim as she sat down. She focused on the microphone set for her on the long table rather than their expectant faces. The Imperial family didn't often speak like this, save for the Emperor while they stood behind him, but the Grand Steward had been driven to this desperate move when the press no longer listened to his official announcements. That the conference centered her was even more surprising.

Greetings were exchanged, and Father gave an opening statement, thanking the public for their concern about the princess. More formalities that Shino tuned out in favor of repeating in her mind the story the IHA had prepared for her.

The official story was that Princess Shino of Tsunehito was sick. How could they not think she was sick? For this, the Grand Steward had their most reliable make-up artists paint her face to look a little red in the nose and cheeks and pale everywhere else, or one or the other, his instructions were fuzzy, just to stress how prolonged her fevers had been.

"Princess Shino, why was the IHA thrown into chaos about your whereabouts that afternoon?"

"Indeed. If it was only a fever, shouldn't they have known about it?"

"After all, the IHA—"

Shino gave a sniffle that silenced the room. The unspoken rule was that they could bombard the Imperial family with all the questions they wanted but fell into complete silence when any member spoke.

"I failed to coordinate with our security about my illness, and I remained in the unused bathroom in the hopes that nobody would worry about me." Weakest excuse she had ever given, but the IHA made it and she'd stick by it to the letter. If she was called a fraud, she could at least blame them for it. "I didn't realize how long I'd stayed there, so I suppose it garnered the opposite effect. For that, I deeply apologize to my family and the Japanese people. I did not mean to cause such a panic."

The press looked doubtful. She couldn't see it, but she heard it in the low murmurs of the crowd. It was tempting to make up a new, much better story, and her mind was already whirring with details, but Tomohito beat her to it.

"The truth is," he said, and it was as though the room was empty the way his voice echoed across it, "My sister…is ill."

His hand took Shino's, and she could do nothing but keep her head down when she stared at it. Added effect and all that, not to mention it hid her confusion. Where was he taking this?

A moment of silence, and then buzzing uproar. "What kind of illness?"

"Is it terminal?"

"Why hide it?"

"Is it hereditary?"

"Will the princess still be able to bear children?"

Tomohito sent their parents an apologetic glance, but the degree of it made it seem as if he had only turned up the stereo too loud and was now going to twist the knob and lower it again. Emperor Tsunehito and his wife understood. They exchanged looks of worry and the eternal love they had promised to share when they wed. Tomohito then made eye contact with Tomoyo, who broke it off immediately and reached up with her silk handkerchief to wipe a single tear from her eye.

Who had said she was the best liar? Maybe she could lie without breaking a sweat and insist on the truth of it, but her family could _act_. And sustain it. Shino tried her best not to give her family odd stares. There had hardly been an effort on her part to enforce the first lie, but this was simply brilliant. The Grand Steward was going to implode.

"It's not cancer," said Tomohito, warning her with a squeeze when he saw the upward twitch of her mouth. "Honestly, it's difficult to talk about…"

Shino watched her brother with admiration, though not for the reasons the press must think. She watched the country lap it up. As a handsome crown prince and the only male heir of the Emperor, everyone loved Tomohito. Not to mention he was kind, smart, and had never been caught doing anything foolish, which made him the perfect prince. Girls used to line up to watch him in class in the university. Sometimes, they still did.

"But," he continued, "we would appreciate the country's support…"

The attention shifted back to her. There were so many questions about what kind of illness it might be or what the possible consequences were that her head spun, but Tomohito was the lie's progenitor, so she would leave that to him. When she opened her mouth, the press waited with bated breath.

"I don't want everyone to think this is the end for me. I want to fight this illness," she announced, head held high. The Imperial family emulated the action so solemnly that any outsider might think they were preparing for war.

"I'm not losing hope, so I don't want anyone to, either. So please…" Tomoyo turned her head away dramatically. Her parents smiled at each other, hands intertwining on the table. Shino peered into the many cameras in the room.

"Believe in me!"


	4. The Merciful Demon Lord

**Feet First**

**Chapter 4: The Merciful Demon Lord**

"_Please believe in me!_" Tomohito burst into laughter, a hand pressed against his stomach. Security was escorting them back to the Fukiage Palace. Father had preferred to walk, insisting it was too cloudy a day to stay inside the car. "Genius, sis. Genius."

"You brought it on!" Shino pointed out. She shared her father's opinion of a nice day being a cloudy one, and with the way the conference ended – the room filled with awed murmurs of the press – it could certainly be classified as one. "The terminal illness!"

"Imagine the pity stares you'll get in school!" laughed her brother. "And Tomoyo," the crown prince continued, "The one tear? Brilliant. Just brilliant."

Tomoyo shrugged nonchalantly.

The Emperor watched his children in proud amusement. "It pleases me to learn that I've raised con artists."

"I'm proud of you, dear," the Empress beamed. "Our first family press conference."

"Let us hope it's the last." The Grand Steward swept into the hallway. His was always a presence with finality, like his notions were the pillars of the world and nothing could change them. "We don't want a repeat of this, do we?"

"No, Grand Steward Shimoto."

Shino's verbal compliance exacerbated the Steward more than it allayed his headache. With a wary stance, he ordered, "You'll be returning to school in a few days."

"Grand Steward, I thought I had a break this week," argued Shino, forcing the respect in her tone. Her day started to sink in the 'nice to frustrating' meter. "And what of my illness?"

"When you asked the country to believe in you, you brought it on yourself to show the world you were willing to go to school despite your illness." The Grand Steward repeated, "You will return to school within the week after a brief period of _recovery_."

"Very well," the Emperor attempted to ease the tension. "You may go, Grand Steward Shimoto."

The Grand Steward bowed, but his head snapped up sooner than was the custom. "That was a good save, Crown Prince. But try not to spring such a thing next time without consulting us. There are repercussions, and the princess returning to school too soon despite her _amnesia_ is only the tip of the iceberg. We have people for that."

He exited with a confident stance. Tomohito dropped the perfunctory smile and scowled. "How dare he. He'd already been dismissed."

"Now, now." The Emperor soothed, "He is simply performing his duties as Grand Steward."

"Father, I don't like that he seems to hold power over you," Shino agreed with her brother.

"He doesn't. Trust me, your father is more powerful than him," the Empress promised. For some reason, Shino believed her.

"Of course, mother," Tomohito agreed if only to end the conversation. The Grand Steward was always easier on him for being the crown prince, and he didn't appreciate that reprimands were taken out on Shino instead. As always, Tomoyo was decidedly blasé.

With the mood ruined, the Imperial family marched home in silence. Tomoyo wouldn't meet Shino's eyes and recoiled to her own room with a _click_ of her lock. Shino tried not to let it bother her. Tomoyo had other problems besides hers, after all, like work. And maybe being generally indifferent in the day. Perhaps her kindly self was nocturnal?

And she had problems, too, like school. She'd call Kagome, but first on the list was Ayumi, the most attentive out of them all.

Ayumi gasped Shino's name as soon as she heard her on the other line. "My mom was so sad when I came home today! What's this about a terminal illness?"

"It's not terminal," Shino sighed affectedly. She joked, "It's just eating away at my body, that's all…"

"Shino!" Ayumi whimpered.

"Uh—wait, don't cry," Shino panicked. "I'm going to be all right. I promise."

"Okay. You know I can get emotional about these things." Ayumi was actually the calmest one and hardly ever got emotional—that was Eri's thing, despite being the toughest nut out of their group—but it was nice to hear her concern, however unwarranted. "You and Kagome are both so sickly!"

"What? What happened to Kagome?"

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know because you've been out of commission, too. She's had so many illnesses wrack her body! But then…" Ayumi's teary moaning turned into a giggle. "But then that mega-hunk did ask her out this weekend..."

"Mega-hunk?" Not a term she expected from Ayumi—she probably got that from Eri or Yuka.

"You know, Hojo?"

Hojo was purportedly the cutest catch of their year. He certainly was attractive; the almond eyes and the brown mop of hair were qualities much sought after, but not something she could appreciate personally. Always kind and helpful, he actually reminded her of Tomohito, except they were never close enough friends to joke around, only running in to each other every so often during projects or at school festivals. Maybe that was why she couldn't like him.

"Well, good on Kagome," Shino agreed with Ayumi's soft chuckling. "I hope she's all right."

"Yeah, and on her birthday week, too… We ended up having to eat that cake. When are you coming back to school, Shino?"

"Tomorrow. Which is why," Shino dragged the word out. It was always embarrassing to ask for help, even if Ayumi was always ready to give it to her friends. "I was hoping to ask what the homework's been so far?"

"Oh yeah, sure! So for English today we were practicing reading using famous speeches… You know, the kind that goes _I have a dream_…"

Shino liked Ayumi. She was honest, sometimes to the point of being hurtful, but never with the intention of offending anyone. Then again, Eri and Yuka were just as blunt—it was just that Ayumi always pointed out the truth with the kindest of tones. The other two were a lot more like Inuyasha, but toned down because they were girls. Slightly. Actually, she and Kagome were lucky to have the friends they did—the three were all driven and determined, which meant despite their differing temperaments, they were hardly afraid of anything and they always had their backs.

Shino felt guilty for lying to them about the Feudal Era, but if Kagome thought it prudent to keep it a secret, then so would she. She supposed there was no use complicating things and dragging the others to the past.

Shino thanked Ayumi for the updates – both for schoolwork and the usual school gossip – and, after swearing that she was not going to die anytime soon, ended the phone call. She thought of calling Kagome, but she must have come home very late last night. Not to mention that she'd be incredibly tired if she went to school today to catch up with lessons. Speaking of which, she had her own to do. The books laid out on her table were already opened where she was supposed to start reading, according to Ayumi.

Groaning as she sat back in her chair, Shino got to work.

* * *

Tomohito wasn't kidding about the pitiful stares. A few days after the press conference and everyone still watched her cautiously, as though she would collapse and shatter, reminiscent of some all-powerful but surprisingly flimsy sacred jewel at any second. Well, they would hardly think in those terms, but even those who once looked upon Shino with disdain for her station only turned away now and shook their heads, like she had disappointed them by catching the 'illness' because now it was heartless to speak ill of her.

Though she supposed, in retrospect, that it was a small price to pay in the long run. Shino genuinely wished to return to the Feudal Era, even if the matter of the jewel shard and who could hold it was still debatable, especially in Kaede's eyes. She had Kagome's full trust, and she wouldn't break it.

At any rate, Eri, Yuka and Ayumi promised not to show their feelings on the matter of her terrible malady. They were much too cheerful to be normal, but she appreciated it. Shino took her seat in their first class behind Yuka and Ayumi and looked over to the seat beside her. "Where's Kagome? Still sick?"

"I guess," sighed Ayumi, patting her own curly hair as though it would comfort them all. "Poor thing!"

"You have it way worse though, Shino," Yuka reminded, taking out her pen and notebook in preparation for the day.

"Don't think about it anymore!" snapped Eri, clapping her hands together.

"She's right," Shino agreed. She had been forced into make-up again this morning, but she was promised it would lighten eventually. After all, the new story was that it was a terminal illness within her body. It wouldn't manifest so easily on the outside, except that she had only come into a cold along with the ailment. "I'm taking the best medication available."

"And hey, maybe you'll even catch the eye of another hunk, like Kagome with Hojo!" Eri grinned. "What about Mako?"

"From class E? I doubt it," Shino grimaced. Not with kind of looks she was getting. Besides, Mako wasn't her type, and she was too busy wondering what Kagome was doing in the Feudal Era without her. She understood that she was virtually unreachable after the whole business with the press conference and had refrained from returning to keep up appearances with the palace, but she could have asked Souta to tell her somehow. Kagome had been gone for too long without even telling her. Her friend had left her with only one option.

* * *

Tomoyo's choppy voice buzzed against her ear. "You're using the clinic line for this? And again?"

"Cover for me," Shino whispered into the phone, flashing their school nurse an innocent smile from the other side of the room. She had said she wasn't feeling well during lunch time and went to the clinic to make a call since she hadn't brought her cellphone. "You understand."

"I understand you're ditching school for this!"

"It's after school. And it's a Friday!" Shino argued. "It could be a few days again. Maybe until Sunday evening. I can't be sure. Just tell them I genuinely felt ill when I called you…"

"I know, I know," murmured Tomoyo. She was at work and kept her voice just as low. "I'll suggest they use the illness excuse in case the press catches wind of this. But you'll have to come up with an excuse to the Grand Steward as to why you were missing. Again. Even more to mom and dad."

"I will while I'm there."

"Good luck, Shino."

Shino paused. "I owe you one."

Tomoyo snorted, "Definitely."

Shino slipped away through a poorly guarded gate after school while Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi were discussing going over to Kagome's house the next day to plan her outfit for Hojo's date. That couldn't be good; she'd probably be at the Feudal Era. Grandpa Higurashi was outside with the great tree when Shino reached the shrine.

"Hello, Shino!" he greeted. Unlike most non-blood related elders, Grandpa Higurashi called her by her name because he had known her mother since before she was born. Shino's grandparents on her mother's side had been close friends with him and the Empress went to him for advice, whether or not they were related to Shintoism. It delighted her even more to know that she was friends with Kagome; Shino wondered what her mother would think now, knowing there was some portal to the past in a place she had constantly visited while growing up.

"Grandpa Higurashi, good afternoon," she bowed. "Did Kagome…?"

"Oh, yes—days ago!" he smiled, as if time travel was a concept he'd been raised with. Walking her to the shrine with the well, he patted her on the back. "Go on, now. Your secret is safe with us, too. Say hi to your mother for me!"

Shino was already climbing when she turned at the remark. "I'll be sure to tell her when I get ba-aaaaahh!"

Fell again. Anyway, she thought, dusting herself off, she was certain Grandpa Higurashi understood what she was saying. Climbing out of the well, Shino was extremely relieved to see no more signs of Yura's hair. That was a nightmare. Literally. She'd dreamt of being stuck in the binds and having her stomach utterly diced to pieces!

The villagers nodded at her in acknowledgment when she arrived. What a hardy people. They appeared to have completely recovered from the puppet ordeal, and she was proud to walk among them. She took a detour by the side of the river where the women often did their laundry and was astonished to see them going about their daily activities.

"Shino, ye have returned."

"Kaede!" The old woman was the steeliest of them all. "You surprised me."

"Suki mentioned ye had arrived." At Shino's quirked brow, Kaede replied, "The girl whose hands we first saw under Yura's control."

"Ah. How are you feeling, Kaede?"

Looking over the glistening river and the village thriving beside it, the priestess touched the sling over her left shoulder. "All is well. I need only rest. Are ye still bothered by the wounds Yura wrought?"

The cut on Shino's neck was so narrow that it was invisible, and those on her stomach could only be seen because Yura had used so many strands. Her back wound still ached, but was technically healed. How could Kaede tell? Bruises from training in which she used to partake with her siblings she was accustomed to, but open wounds were new, and she flinched at these like the novice she truly was in battle.

"I'll get used to them," she answered. "Where have Kagome and Inuyasha gone?"

"In yonder woods," Kaede sighed. "But they have not returned since days ago. Search parties we have sent returned only with the contraption."

"Contraption?"

Making a motion with her hand, Kaede summoned a villager who brought Kagome's bicycle with him, complete with its basket. Shino wondered how worried she should be. On one hand, Tomoyo did warn how far they'd have to go to find shards scattered everywhere, even with Kagome's sense of them, but—wouldn't Kagome and Inuyasha take her with them? Unless they remembered that she would be of little use without the shard…but why would Kagome leave without the bike? Inuyasha would never agree to carrying her around everywhere—just nights ago he had complained about having to bring Shino back to the village for her injuries from Yura.

Kaede recognized her pained expression and distracted her by taking a box from the bike's basket and handing it to her. "Here, child."

"What's this?" Shino opened it. Bandages, needles, a whole lot of herbs and parchments containing recipes for curatives, and… "Alcohol?"

"Kagome brought much of the liquid when she returned. I know not its purpose, but perhaps ye do," affirmed Kaede.

"I fear an evil has befallen them," confessed Shino, returning the box inside the bike's basket.

Kaede appeared to have felt the same since she did not attempt to soothe the girl's worries. "If Inuyasha could not defeat it, neither will ye. However, should they be in need, only ye can provide the aid they require."

"You're right," said Shino, though she would have gone even if she weren't. She couldn't sit around while Kagome and Inuyasha left her to go on adventures. It just wasn't right, and she was starting to feel a little hurt. Not that she could even truly blame them. Kagome would want her safe and Inuyasha didn't appreciate her tagging along when she was powerless. "You're right. I'm going now."

* * *

After suggesting that she change into more comfortable clothing – Kaede thought it odd that she asked for a dobuku and hakama, but did not argue the point – the priestess pointed her in the direction the two last left for. Shino doubted the idea of Kagome and Inuyasha walking in a straight line, but Kaede reminded her that the half-demon was something of a simpleton and preferred straight directions to roundabout manners. Funny how much sense that made.

Getting on Kagome's bicycle, Shino pedaled. She wasn't sure how far she had gone, but sometimes Inuyasha's heavy landings amidst his brief flights into the air caught her eye and she was certain she was tracking them correctly. She climbed hills, trekked through forests, and on one occasion had the distracting opportunity of traipsing – or squashing – through a field of flowers, but Kagome and Inuyasha were nowhere in sight. Dusk was fast approaching and she was starting to lose hope. If they had been traveling for days, how could she expect to catch up with them on a bike?

Not to mention she was hungry, thirsty, and her legs ached. If demons came at her now, she might drop dead, and the thought was not one that pandered to her idea of a future. For her own safety and because she decided she had earned a break after night fell, Shino followed the sound of running water and stopped at a river tributary. The junk food she had bought from school gave her some sustenance, though she was forced to drink directly from the river. Her water bottle had long run out that afternoon when she had failed to pace her consumption of it.

Shino stuck out her tongue. It had much more flavor than regular water, but she hadn't a choice. She wondered if this new water would affect her stomach. If it did, perhaps sleeping would wear off any effects it might have on her. She had read once that bad things were afraid of water—or it could have been a Western belief and she was utterly wrong, but as she closed her eyes and waited for the sound of growling, gluttonous monsters or the tittering of evil demonesses, nothing came. So Shino fell asleep.

* * *

Something gnarled poked at her ankle.

"A human?" said a strange, squeaky voice with a bizarre accent. "What is it doing here?"

Shino bolted upright, only to be struck by an immeasurable headache as bright sunlight pervaded her vision and pain throbbed at her temples. "Ow," she groaned, morning voice hoarse. She pressed her fist against the side of her head. "What…time is it?"

"It's awake!" the voice gasped. When her eyesight cleared, Shino identified the creature to whom it belonged—a demon, though she had already guessed from how it addressed her. This one looked like a skinny, bipedal toad. It had no lips and its eyes were large and round with slit pupils. Its skin was a sickly green, and it peered at her with both disgust and interest. She likely viewed him with the same expression.

"What are you?" she asked, eyeing the walking stick in his hand. A demon that didn't want to gut her on sight. Shino was interested.

"I, human, am a _kappa_," it – he – declared, standing with his shoulders straight and wearing a dignified expression along with robes that looked like a shaman's. (What surprised her more was that there were clothes his size!) "I come from a great tribe that once held much land in the Musashi Province!"

Shino blinked. Musashi province…that was old, and she wasn't a big fan of geography. It was a good thing her father loved it, however, and insisted that his own children know what Japan in its older days had been called. "Musashi? This is still Musashi. I think." She looked around. Next time, she would have to bring something to be able to track how far she had gone from Kaede's village. She had been going in a straight line, after all. "Where has your tribe gone?"

"I left them to search for our former master!" said the kappa, who sighed and fell on his posterior. "We are useless without him. I have been on a very long journey…"

"Have you lost your way?" she asked. "I haven't seen any kappa around. You know, if your master is gone, you should appoint another in your tribe. You've got to forge your own lives."

"What a preposterous idea!" scoffed the kappa, glaring darkly at Shino. But then his forehead relaxed and his sullen disposition vanished as he sighed. "The truth is, I just need more energy to locate my master!"

"I understand," said Shino, putting up her knees and leaning her arms on them. "I need to find my friends, too."

The kappa blinked before his pointed mouth widened to a grin. "Human!" he exclaimed. "What would you make of a deal?"

Shino peered at the demon, using her feet and posterior to inch away. "What kind of deal?"

The kappa spun, his arms disappearing as he fumbled with something within his robes. In a few seconds, a table had been set between them, the right arm of his robe had been pulled up to his shoulder, and he held out a hand for her while his elbow rested on the varnished wood. "Arm wrestle with me!"

Shino looked around curiously. Perhaps this was a dream and she hadn't truly woken? But if that were the case, then her eyes would already have snapped open at the realization. Glancing back at the kappa, she wondered _why_. Before she could speak, the demon explained: "If I defeat you, you will give me your energy so I can go on searching! But if you triumph, I will harvest your energy to make a path to those you seek!"

"A path?" Shino frowned. "How?"

"Why, I'll make a portal, of course!"

"A portal?" He sounded awfully suspicious. If he could make a portal, then he could cheat and defeat her in arm wrestling. But— "Wait. How am I assured that you can actually create a portal, and that you don't just want my energy to last the day? I know you demons eat humans."

"Not all of us!" the kappa scoffed, eyeing her with distaste. "And you look filthy! I wouldn't want a bite of you if you begged me to eat you."

Shino made a face. "All right. But that doesn't reassure me."

The kappa flailed his arms about and rubbed his bald head, crying out in frustration. "I am a shaman! A _shaman_! And I have traveled great lengths to learn this spell! I need only your energy!"

"All right," Shino acquiesced, slightly afraid that he might try to turn her into a toad-looking thing like him in his anger. Of course, he lacked the energy, but it wasn't impossible. Rolling up her sleeve, she angled herself properly and set her elbow on the table. They clasped hands – slimy hand on his end, while Shino tried not to squirm – as she nodded. "Ready."

The kappa grunted. To Shino's surprise, he actually put up a fight. The wrestle had begun with her in the lead, but the more she pushed, the weaker she felt. It was like running up an endless staircase. On her arms. Finally, the kappa drove her arm downward and her clenched knuckles loosened as they hit the table. "I win!" he cheered, leaping and pointing a triumphant finger at her. "You dared underestimate the servant of Master Ja—"

"You—" Shino breathed heavily, struggling just to stand. Spreading her arms for balance, she hobbled over to her bike for something to lean on. "You cheated," she murmured, slowly approaching.

The kappa cackled feverishly, throwing his head back. "Too late, human! I already took your energy as soon as you touched my hand! You lost as soon as you attempted to defeat _me_! And now…" He stood facing the water, waving his arms and muttering words Shino was too tired and frustrated to understand, and a tide began to counter the river flow. It spun until it formed a spitting whirlpool, lashing out at the two beings before it. "To find our master! Once and for all!"

"I think not," said Shino, lip curled at the kappa's treachery and, with the last of her energy, punted the demon to the side. She didn't wait to hear him stop crying out in pain before taking Kagome's bicycle and squeezing her eyes shut, stepping into the flushing portal and hoping it didn't lead to ancient sewers.

* * *

It felt nothing like jumping into the well. In fact, it felt _correct_ – save that she wasn't drenched, Shino was wrapped in the roaring water, as though the portal had taken her deep into the cold veins of the earth and spat her out where she intended to go.

To her chagrin, not all was as she expected. Though she had landed painfully on her tailbone atop the bicycle and she was next to another bank, different only in that it was not in the center of a clearing and instead cut through the seams of the trees in this new forest, Kagome and Inuyasha were nowhere to be found.

"Kagome?" she called out, her voice small in the face of the towering trees. Or maybe it was that her energy had been drained by that nasty kappa and she felt like fainting on the spot. But it wouldn't do to waste time falling unconscious in the middle of the day, she reminded herself.

If the weekend passed without her getting home, the Grand Steward would pop a vein. Shino wasn't certain how she felt about that yet. Taking a deep breath and heaving the bike up, she supported it and herself on the nearest tree. "Half-demon?"

No answer. This forest was quiet. This time, not even birds and critters uttered a sound. Either she was the predator they feared or there was another in the forest that made them quiet themselves so. At once, Shino closed her mouth. Attracting a genuine threat was not on her list of things to do; not in this state.

She peered up at the sky. It was…still breakfast time. She could tell by the way her stomach growled and rumbled, and pressed on it with a hand to ask for some silence. It was getting more tiring to go on, to take even another step. Had that kappa taken her entire life force for its portal? The sun cast a shadow behind her, so she was going – east. It took the greatest effort to even think. "East is where Kaede pointed," she reminded herself softly. It was all she could manage. "East."

A little more and Shino would have surrendered to whatever predator may have slept there in the wood, the sound of only the bicycle's tires crunching against the blades of grass reaching her ears and worsening into a monotonous screech, when the wind beckoned with the loveliest sound she had ever heard. It was a flute, but she knew not its source.

Shino tensed. Could it be another trap to lure her into lowering her guard? Shino told herself that if the predator was as great as the quiet creatures of the forest believed, it would need no tricks to know how to tackle her and swallow her whole at the moment. Still, she was too afraid to call out to who it might be.

And then she saw the red and white cloth far ahead. The person to whom it belonged lay against the tree.

"A person," she muttered. Her thoughts had become too far from her to the point that she needed to speak to wake herself. "Flute-player. I'll ask them if they have seen a half-demon and a girl. Trade herbs, maybe, for information."

Deserting Kagome's bike and taking only the box Kaede had given her, Shino swung her free arm forward and tried to reach the person as quickly as she could. In that state, she was almost excited. Too excited, perhaps. She missed a branch, or perhaps stepped on herself, she had no idea – and released the box. It landed on the red and white cloth while Shino skidded on the ground.

"Ugh," she groaned, missing the shard terribly as she felt the gash start to bleed. Pulling herself to the tree of the flute-player, she lifted her knee. The pant leg was torn and her skin there burned. Frustrated, she glared to her right at the person who had not even moved to aid her. "Stupid…"

Shino blinked. Silver hair with the sheen and touch of gossamer silk so bizarre that she drew back her hand as soon as it ventured forward. At the same time, the flute stopped, but this was already far from her mind. Stumbling backward, she tripped over Kagome's first-aid box and slumped another time on her tailbone. Biting down on her lip to resist the urge to whine painfully, she reached down and rubbed her bottom. That would kill her in the morning.

If she survived this one. Before her was the most tragically beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes on – and she had met many a celebrity in her time for her blood. This was not the flute-player, for she was asleep. Her silver hair fell over her shoulders and stuck between her back and the tree. Two scars – or paint – colored a deep magenta cut each cheek, a crescent moon on her forehead. Her kimono was predominantly white with red shapes at the wrist of her sleeves, and what Shino found most bizarre was that she wore a hakama. The white trousers flowed from under the sash of her kimono and was clamped around her ankles, where her shoes began.

The first she thought of was, obviously, Inuyasha. The half-demon's hair was coarser and less – for lack of a better word – shiny, but it, too, was silver. She thought they might be related, but she soon saw that this was impossible. While Inuyasha's ears were that of a dog, this woman's ears were sharp and pointed, but otherwise looked entirely human. Which could only mean she was a demon – and a powerful one at that. The creature exuded such power that Shino could feel it leak and seep into her own consciousness. At once Shino could sit straight again, think a little more clearly; and the pain in her knee was momentarily forgotten when she caught the stench.

Shino licked her lips. Smelling blood was like licking metal, and it made her feel sick. Was it this demon?

Now that she paid less attention to the creature's beauty than her actual condition, Shino realized it dripped from her left arm. Lifting the demoness' sleeve, she groaned. A clean slice. Her left forearm and elbow were completely amputated, and with no trace of it anywhere around them. The bile rose in her throat, but Shino pushed it down and opened Kagome's box with trembling hands. Bandages. That might work. But what happened to this woman that she might have sustained such an injury?

And survived. That instilled fear in Shino more than she imagined it would have. Suddenly she wanted to bolt, return to the bike and increase the distance between herself and this woman immediately. But it was an irrational fear, she told herself. Kagome – brave Kagome – would have helped her. So, keeping the woman's sleeve up with her wrist and taking the bandage with her free hand, Shino wrapped her arm with the cloth and closed it with the modern day binder in the shape of a ribbon.

The action gave her strength, Shino was aware, though she knew not the reason. Positive karma, maybe, for helping a total stranger? But she could raise her head again without any trouble, and she felt so energized that she bet she could kick a tree and it would just topple over! In fact, she was sorely tempted to try it, and she would if she wasn't busy helping this one and a half-armed creature, whose eyes flashed and whose claws were now reaching for her neck—

"Whoa!" gasped Shino, dodging to the right, amazed at her own reaction time, but the demon was faster. She caught her neck anyway and, removing herself from the tree, slammed Shino's back into it. All the girl could think was _going to die _and _totally ungrateful_.

The creature's eyes were red. Not her pupils which were violet all of a sudden but her entire sclera, which was absolutely terrifying—and as soon as the fear reached her thought, the demon's eyes returned to gold. Like Inuyasha's, she thought, but emptier. The demon stared at her as though she were a speck of dust she had just found on her sleeve, and she was contemplating on whether or not it was too much trouble to flick her off.

She was, apparently. The demoness released her. Shino fell to her knees, coughing. She didn't want to, but she looked up at the creature.

"Good—morning," she tried, gaze trapped in the hers. The woman continued to stare at her. Perhaps she wanted an explanation? She would give it. Maybe then she wouldn't gobble her up. And she was so tall that she wouldn't put it past her – not to mention the way she scrutinized her made her feel naked. "You were bleeding to death," she informed the woman. "Well, your arm had stopped bleeding profusely, but I wasn't about to, you know, take any chances. Miss. Lady. Uh…"

The woman's eyes flashed red again. Shino cringed as she towered over her. Ah, so she had only knelt, before, because she was standing now. "Lady?" he growled.

_He_. With a masculine voice. Shino peered closer, for she had avoided looking at him too much so as not to anger him, and realized his features were indeed that of a man, especially his jawline and the telling bump of his larynx. Not to mention there was no chest to speak of. Shino wondered if offering to chop herself up and offer her body parts as morsels would make him want to kill her less, or give her enough time to run away if he found it bizarre enough. How was she to know? The long, flowy hair, clothes like royalty and that _white fluff_ on his shoulder? She did not understand styles in this era.

"Right, of course," said Shino, shaking and inclining her head. "Sir. Milord."

Eyes hidden beneath her bangs, she snuck a peek at his face. A look of displeasure. "Who are you?"

As soon as the question escaped him, he appeared to regret it. His frown deepened, but he did not withdraw the question. _Dead_, _never should have come here_, whined Shino's mind. She agreed wholeheartedly, but stood her ground. Shino had read somewhere a while back that running away would only prompt beasts to give chase. Something about the rush of the kill, or implying that you were weaker than them, enough to be thought of as a meal. So, looking him in the eye – but without defiance, because issuing a challenge was not her intention – she enunciated, "My name is Shino."

Having received his answer, the demon sat. Despite the power that continued to flare from his person, he was clearly tired. His movements were ever graceful, but Shino could see the irregularity in his breathing. It was amazing that he could threaten her at all with his recent amputation. Speaking of which, he lifted his sleeve with his only hand and glared at the bandages with a low growl. "I did not require _your_ aid."

Shino was terrified, but indignant just the same. "It certainly looked that way," she murmured, looking away. He had heard, of course, with those supernatural olfactory senses that seemed to come with being non-human, and turned his head at her sharply. No sense of humor, but foolishly she gave him the benefit of the doubt and blamed it on the missing arm. "Believe it or not," she said, slowly and quietly in an attempt to calm him, "I didn't come by this wood to help you. I was hoping to find two friends of mine. One of them even has silver—"

"Milord! Oh, milord!" cried a familiar voice grating to the ears. "I think I've found—"

Into their shade of trees ran a small, hip-high demon, green with large slit spheres for eyes and a pointed mouth. He carried a staff of two heads, one of an old man behind the face of a beautiful woman. For some reason, he was wearing an eboshi.

"A kappa," Shino breathed in amazement. Could this be—? Had that spell worked, after all? This kappa and the one she met a while ago spoke with the same accent. They even almost sounded the same, and the only real difference she saw in them was that this kappa was a darker green and wore different clothing. Though that would mean the portal took one not to where its traveler desired, but to where its creator meant to go. That blasted shaman!

"Who is this _human_?" spat the kappa, taking a moment out of fawning over the one-armed demon to shoot her a dirty look.

Shino was beginning to grow tired of this anti-human sentiment. Why was her race second-class here? In the future, no demons existed – or humans had become technologically advanced enough to drive them back. She wondered when in time that had occurred. "It's Shino, actually," she tried to smile. It would either irritate them, show off her etiquette, or both, so she took the chance. "And you are?"

The kappa scowled. "How dare you act so casual in the face of my master! Show your respect!" He turned his staff at her, and the two heads spun until the old man with the white mustache opened its mouth in her direction.

She stared curiously until she smelled heat like someone turning on the gas at the science lab in school. Yelping, Shino leapt out of the way, forward to the side where the roaring fire barely missed her. Another hostile demon! She wondered why she was surprised, but she was too angry to think of the answer. She had helped his "lord" and this was how he repaid her? Yelling, she ran at him and grabbed his staff, then threw it high in the air.

"H-How dare you!?" cried the kappa. "But," he reflected, quirking a brow ridge at her, "such speed from a human…"

Realizing what she'd done, Shino prepared herself for another attack by the greater demon when the ground shook. It was a familiar sensation, and she recalled immediately the night Mistress Centipede attacked Kaede's village. Thundering horse hooves approached from the distance, and that could only mean one thing: battle. Or a nice parade, but she doubted at what sounded like a hurried pace.

"Well," Shino said, looking around for the source of the rumbling and hoping to go in the opposite direction, "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave of you. Imp," she bowed at the kappa wearing the simple brown shogun-like costume – the hooves were awfully close now, and she could hear men yelling – then dipped deeper for the great demon, "Milord."

"Hey!" the kappa whined, "You can't just—"

It was too late. Just as Shino had begun to walk off, soldiers on horse and foot bearing red banners found the large tree under which the great demon rested. Shino backed into the kappa, who similarly took a step closer to her. His silver-haired master was still and silent behind them even as a middle-aged man, the leader of the soldiers who appeared, motioned for his men to surround them.

"Wretched demon," he bellowed, "Prepare to die!"

"I'm human," Shino declared, raising her hands in surrender. "This demon has done nothing wrong." Well, she couldn't be certain, but he was injured, and she was without a jewel shard. She would feel better if a fight didn't break out around her like this. Not to mention the kappa's staff was still missing – perhaps it had gotten caught in a branch above them. "I—well, I don't think I would allow you to hurt him." Would. Was not sure if she _could_ stop them. Were they the cause of the one-armedness of the demon? But he hardly reacted to their presence. Maybe not.

The lord of the soldiers looked scandalized. "Has he ensnared you as well, girl? We have no quarrel with you—in fact, we'll save you too!"

Shino shook her head. "No, please listen—"

The kappa gasped. "How dare you threaten my lord!"

It sounded as though he'd been about to say something more when the demon interrupted. "Jaken," he uttered. The kappa turned, and so did Shino. "Get out of the way."

The kappa blinked and stammered, "O-Of course, milord, but I—"

Shino had no idea how, but she could feel the demon's energy – perhaps anger – rising. "Excuse me," she said through teeth gritted in fear, "are you—"

"Get out of the way." Shino and Jaken the kappa heard the _And I will not repeat myself again _in his tone.

The human leader growled. "Very well. You seem to be a lost cause—rifle squad," he swung his hand in the air, "step to the forefront!"

"Just obey, girl!" Jaken yelped. In a moment of panic, Shino allowed him to pull her aside.

"They can't possibly—!" Shino glanced down at the kappa. "This is an execution!"

Suddenly, the melody of the flute picked up again, causing the leader to halt and mutter something under his breath. Whatever it was that had stopped him, whether the flute or the flute-player, perhaps, he no longer cared. "It matters not," he insisted to nobody. "Rifle squad, take aim and fire!"

The deafening sound of bullets and the smell of gunpowder made Shino unable to hear Jaken's loud cry as she knelt down and covered her ears, but she was unable to take her eyes away from the sight. Without even standing, the demon lord was deflecting the bullets from reaching the three of them! A green whip so fast that she could only see traces of it gleaming lashed at the rifle-bearing soldiers, knocking them on their backs as their bullets turned right around and hit them square in the chests.

Coughing as the smoke of the gunpowder cleared, Shino removed her hands from her ears and wiped her eyes. The demon lord had finally stood while the human looked over his injured or dead subjects. Those still standing gaped at the sight, shaking even as they held their glorious banners. The two stared at each other, the former silent and the latter growling, cursing under his breath.

"You foolish mortals!" Jaken screamed and jumped. "You won't get away with defying Lord—"

"Retreat!" the human lord broke eye contact first, rearing his horse and turning around. "Retreat!" he ordered. Those of his men standing picked up their own and, shouting for home in fear, departed as swiftly as was possible.

Jaken shook his fist after them, but could do nothing without his staff. Shino couldn't care less, especially since the demon lord did nothing to follow them. The sight of soldiers dealt the card of death so quickly had not escaped her, but it was still shallow and had not seeped into the reaches of her consciousness that feared such loss of life. What she had held on to was–

"The flute," she wondered aloud.

The demon lord glanced at her with disdain still, but he had noticed it too. "It's stopped."

Maintaining eye contact was terribly difficult with this demon. She had never looked at anyone so intimidating – and she had thought Inuyasha was fearsome in the beginning. He at least had some sense of humor. Or any kind of emotion, really.

The kappa broke it by speaking and taking her attention from him. "What are we going to do about this cross-dresser, milord?"

Shino narrowed her eyes at Jaken, though she couldn't quite blame him for the name-calling. But if he was the demon's servant, there was no way she could take him on, either. He could draw that whip with merely a thought and no amount of newfound agility could help her survive a physical encounter with this man.

"Come," commanded the demon, taking a step forward and then just—walking.

"What?" Though she had only known the kappa for a few minutes, she realized he was always alarmed. It was a trait of his race, perhaps. "But milord—"

The demon paused in his tracks. "Do not waste my time, Jaken."

"But this girl—" Jaken winced when his staff fell from the sky, whacking him on the head.

The lord turned his head before making a complete about-face and staring at Shino. His eyes lowered to his left arm, then raised to her once more. She met his gaze with caution.

"Pray that our paths do not cross again," he said, turned again, and walked away.

Picking himself up and taking his staff from the ground, Jaken took a last glare at Shino before bounding after his master. "Wait for me, milord!"

She watched them go until the lord's silver hair blended with the scenery, and only then was she able to breathe. "…That went well."

At the very least, she didn't feel like keeling over anymore. She had wondered if it was the lack of food bar snacks for the past several hours, but apparently all she'd needed was an adrenaline rush and the threat of imminent death by either demon lord or firing squad and she was good to go. Go back to the village, that was.

Picking up the medicine box and getting back on Kagome's bike, Shino was grateful to see that the river portal was still swirling. Otherwise, she might as well have challenged the demon lord to an arm-wrestling match. And with the power he exuded, she had a feeling that he would win—even with his half-arm. Which was sad, really, but the reality in this time.

The portal brought her back to the original clearing by the river—she knew, because the kappa shaman was weeping unintelligibly at her feet when she got back.

"Oh, it's you," she wrinkled her nose, leading the bicycle around his hunched figure. "You know, I think I found your master."

"Truly!?" cried the kappa, looking up with renewed hope. "Where was Master Jaken!?"

So she was right. The demon lord did call him that. "Happy where he is, I think," she answered. "He was working for this demon lord who—"

"What's this?" The kappa circled her this time, making to touch her knee, but yelped and retreated when Shino threatened to kick him once more. "You seem to have reenergized awfully quickly for a human! Will you give me more power? Please, just for one more portal!"

"Why don't you use that one?" Shino pointed her thumb back at the portal—upon which it closed, with a _whoosh _of finality.

"Please, human!" begged the kappa.

Shino pitied him, but he _had _nearly left her for dead, and would have if she hadn't punted him first. "Sorry," she shook her head. "I can't die yet. But good luck to you!"

Propping herself up on Kagome's bike, she biked away as fast as she could. When she was far enough not to hear his wails, she considered stopping. But she couldn't—her body surged with energy, and it felt as though stopping now would make her explode. So Shino pedaled on, unaware of the smoke cloud that lay in the wake of her speed.

* * *

The first things Shino spotted as she headed down from the forest at a leisurely pace were the red haori and the sailor fuku. The villagers and their houses were dull in contrast amidst the torches they had lit during sunset, and which could be a bad thing—if she were a demon, she would target the easily seen first—but maybe demons thought differently. At any rate, she hoped the poor village wouldn't suffer another attack. She felt bad enough borrowing clothes from one of their boys already.

Kagome saw her bike and her friend's short hair from the distance and waved. "Shino!"

Inuyasha turned around at the sound and smell of her. "Where have _you _been, Thing? And—what are you wearing?"

"Comfortable clothes," replied Shino, stepping off the bike in front of Kaede's hut, "and I happened to be looking for a nice girl named Kagome and her pet Half-demon."

Inuyasha growled. "Are you a calling me a pet…?"

Shino hurried behind Kagome. Her encounter with the demon lord had left her somewhat flippant, especially since Inuyasha's claws seemed tame compared to that lord's red eyes and shining whip, but now she remembered just how dangerous the half-demon was himself. Smiling sheepishly, she said, "Uh—down, boy…?"

Kagome chuckled. "Actually, it's—"

"H-Hey, wait!"

"—sit, boy."

Kaede stepped out of her home, smiling even before her eyes landed on Shino. She could hear the commotion from inside. "We were beginning to worry for ye, Shino."

"Yeah, where did you go?" asked Kagome, looking over her friend's odd clothes, though she already knew Kaede was keeping Shino's school uniform safe in her house. "You won't believe what we met—a toad demon posing as a prince!"

"What a coincidence!" said Shino, setting down Kagome's bike as Kaede invited them inside. "I just met a kappa! A shaman kappa, actually—"

"What? Really?"

"Yes! He even—"

Inuyasha glared at the two girls as he entered the hut, and looked even more upset at the amused grin Kaede wore as she stoked the fire. "_Maybe _that's why you smell like that, Thing," he spat, plopping down between them.

Kagome eyed the dirt on his face and flicked it off with her finger. Ignoring his yelp, she asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Some kappa can do magic, right?" Inuyasha grumbled. "He obviously used his on you, because you stink of—"

"Wait a minute, tell me about the toad demon posing as a prince!" Shino interrupted, tapping Kagome's wrist.

Eager to vent about their recent scuffle, during which a toad demon possessing a prince had kidnapped village girls in order to eat them, Kagome grinned. "It started when we met this guy named Nobunaga—"

"No way! You met Oda Nobunaga!?"

"That's what I thought," sighed Kagome. "He was actually just a guy named Amari Nobunaga…"

Kaede watched the two converse animatedly and tried to remember if she spoke in such a manner in her youth. Beside her, Inuyasha's expression turned sourer by the minute. The old priestess supposed it hardly mattered as long as they worked together. Kagome and Shino clearly got along—and Inuyasha simply had no choice. Yes, it mattered little.


End file.
